Time and Space
by Eureka '94
Summary: While out walking one night, 18-year-old Zanna Sterling encounters a mysterious man in a blue box. After he helps her and her brother escape from a Weeping Angel, she decides to find out more about him, and soon she gets dragged into an adventure she least expected. Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor who. The BBC does. P.S. Some reviews would be nice, as long as you keep it civil :)
1. Time and Space

Time and Space - Part 1

It was a rainy, miserable afternoon in November, and Zanna Sterling was walking home from work. She worked at a comic book store in downtown Toronto. It was one of those hole-in-the-wall type places that were easy to miss. Business hadn't been any good in the past few months and her boss was beginning to get uneasy. The employees were uneasy too, and for good reason. As the number of customers was shrinking, so were the employee paychecks. The reason was that her boss could only spread the amount of money the business was making so far, as he also had to pay rent for the part of the building which the store was in, as well as the shipments that were arriving each month and a few renovations here and there. Earlier that day, Zanna even heard her boss telling his wife that the store may end up going out of business. Zanna thought it was a shame; she really liked working at Comic Enterprises, as the store was called. Perhaps she could come up with a few ideas to maybe put some life back into the comic book store, but so far, nothing came to mind.

She dragged her feet through puddles of mud and slush, adjusted her shabby old jacket and tightened the long, black scarf that wrapped twice around her neck and cascaded down to her knees. She could have gotten a new jacket if it wasn't for the pitiful paycheck she got every week. Things were never that bad at the comic book store when she first began working there. She worked there ever since she quit school when she was sixteen. It was the only business that would take her because of that (also because she was horrendous at job interviews). She quit because there were girls at her school who were out to get her for some reason, on top of making enemies of a few staff members. She quit after things started to get pretty bad there. After that, she began taking online courses and earned her grade twelve diploma that way. Now, she was waiting for her acceptance letter into University. The letter should have come five days before. "Meh, it'll come eventually," she thought, looking up and turning sharply towards the apartment building where she lived.

As she approached the building, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye, but she quickly dismissed it as an optical illusion. She trudged into the apartment building and took the stairs up to the seventh floor. She wandered down the hall and approached a door with the number six on the front, precisely level with her eyes. She quickly rapped on the door.

"Echo," she called; "You have to let me in. I forgot the keys to the apartment again."

"Every freaking time!" came an irritated voice from the other side of the door. The door opened to reveal a girl with long, dark hair and brown eyes. She looked like she had to be at least nineteen years of age. "You really need to remember your keys from now on," she said; "What if I wasn't home?"

"Well, you were home," Zanna retorted.

"What if I wasn't," Echo nagged.

"You were."

Echo sighed and let Zanna into the apartment. "How was work," she asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"They're thinking of going out of business," Zanna grumbled. Removing her soaking wet shoes and kicking them to the side.

"Seriously" Echo exclaimed. Zanna nodded, falling into a nearby chair. Suddenly, Echo's expression lightened.

"What," Zanna ventured, staring up at her.

"You got a letter from the University," Echo announced; "Maybe it's good news."

"Oh, good," Zanna exclaimed; "I could use some good news right now."

She tore open the letter and began reading it out loud: "Dear Ms. Sterling; we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the engineering program at …." She paused with a look of surprise. "HOLY CRAP," she shouted, jumping out of her seat and beginning to pace the floor. Echo laughed.

"I've been accepted," Zanna exclaimed, showing Echo the letter.

"That's awesome," Echo said, hugging Zanna. "I think this calls for a celebration. How about pizza and a scary movie?"

"Sounds great," Zanna replied, nodding her head; "Thanks."

They waited for Echo's boyfriend, Luke, to come home. He was working late again. He always works late. They ordered their pizza and watched a few scary movies. After that, Zanna decided to go out for a walk. She put on her coat and boots and took the stairs to the front doors of the building. It was cold that evening, and the sidewalks were soaking wet. Zanna had to be careful so she wouldn't slip. Zanna couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to be somewhere else. She rarely left Toronto, and was yearning for the day she would travel all her life. She also thought about her mother. Ever since her father was killed in Afghanistan, her mother was suffering from a serious case of depression and was drinking a lot. Zanna decided to call her. She took her phone out of her pocket and dialed the number. The phone rang three times.

"Hello," her mother finally answered; "Is that you, Zanna?" Her mother had caller I.D, so she knew who was calling.

"Hi, Mom," Zanna greeted, trying to sound as cheerful as possible; "How are you?"

"I'm doing alright," her mother said.

"I got accepted into University," Zanna said. She suddenly felt better after telling her mother the news.

"Good, good," her mother replied, trying not to sound depressed; "At least one of my babies is on the right track."

"This is about Garrett, isn't it," Zanna sighed, assuming that her younger brother was still a juvenile delinquent; "What did he do now?"

"He got suspended for fighting in school," her mother grumbled.

"Again," Zanna exclaimed in exasperation; "He needs help."

"I know," her mother sighed; "But he just won't listen to anyone."

"Keep trying," Zanna suggested; "I'm sure he'll come to his senses eventually."

"I hope so," her mother replied.

"I have to go," Zanna said; "I'll talk to you later."

"Okay," her mother agreed; "Bye."

"Bye," Zanna said before hanging up.

Jan. 12th, 2012, 11:30 PM

She trudged down the sidewalk and turned onto Yonge Street. Suddenly, a car sped through a nearby puddle, showering slush and muddy water onto her. "Jerk," she shouted after the driver. As she dusted herself off, a strange flying object caught her eye. She looked up and saw a blue box flying at least twenty-five feet above her head.

"Oh my God," she exclaimed as it careened out of control and disappeared around a corner. A loud crashing noise followed. Zanna froze for a few seconds, trying to process what had just happened. As soon as reality set in, Zanna decided to go and investigate. She hurried around the corner and into an alleyway just in time to see a strange man scramble out of the box which was lying on its side with smoke rising up out of its doors. He was long and lanky with dark hair, green eyes, thin eyebrows, a wide nose, and a large, pointy chin. He dressed like a geeky college professor, right down to the bowtie and tweed jacket. He looked like he had to be in his late twenties. He looked shaken, but uninjured. Just to be sure, Zanna decided to go over and ask him if he was alright.

"Excuse me," she ventured, slowly approaching the man.

"Oh," he exclaimed, quickly turning around to face her; "Hello."

"That was quite a collision, man," Zanna said, raising her eyebrows; "You okay?"

"Oh, I'm quite alright," the man exclaimed adjusting his bowtie; "Hell of a landing."

Zanna looked at the box. "What is that," she wondered aloud.

"It's a nineteen-sixties telephone box," the man said.

"Last time I checked, phone boxes couldn't fly," Zanna said skeptically, narrowing her eyes. She looked back at the box. Just as the smoke was clearing, she was able to make out what looked like a control room. It was obviously much too big to be the inside of a phone box. "Last time I checked, phone boxes weren't bigger on the inside," she said, crossing her arms; "What's going on?"

"It's complicated," the man said.

Zanna decided to take his word for it. The situation was strange, and bizarre, and nothing seemed to add up. "Yeah, it sure is complicated," she retorted. "But can you at least tell me who you are?"

"I'm the Doctor," the man said, smiling at Zanna.

"Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor."

"Okay, Then," Zanna said, narrowing her eyes; "So you're a doctor, eh? And you also fly around in a box? Interesting."

"What's your name," the Doctor asked.

"I'm Zanna. Zanna Sterling," Zanna said, holding out her hand.

The Doctor shook it and turned towards the box; "It was nice meeting you, Zanna, but I need to get to work. My TARDIS really took a beating."

The what, Zanna wondered. There was an awkward silence. "This doesn't make any sense," she thought. "Some guy just falls from the sky in a blue phone box from the nineteen-sixties, and calls it the…TARDIS? Then he goes on to say that it took…..a beating?"

"From who," she finally decided to ask asked, raising her eyebrows.

"It's not important," the Doctor said to her; "I think you'd best be going home, before something happens."

"Like what," Zanna pressed, narrowing her eyes again.

"It's complicated," the Doctor told her.  
Zanna sighed. It was obvious that this man was not going to tell her about what really happened. "Alright," she said; "I'll be on my way now."

"Okay. Goodbye, Zanna," the Doctor said, smiling at Zanna before jumping through the doors of the box.

Zanna turned away and started walking home. She stopped abruptly when she heard a strange whooshing sound coming from behind her. "Vworrrp Vworrrrp," the noise went. She turned sharply, just in time to see the mysterious blue box, along with the man inside, vanish without a trace.

"This is weird," she thought; "A blue box just so happens to fall from the sky… there's a guy inside who calls himself "the Doctor"…and the box just vanishes right before my eyes…what's next? Aliens? Flying saucers? Meteors falling from outer space? This is crazy!"

Zanna shook her head and continued home. "How am I going to tell this to Echo and Luke," she wondered. "No," she thought, "I can't tell them this; they'll think I'm crazy." She entered the apartment building and trudged up the stairs to her apartment. Thankfully, she remembered her key that time. She unlocked the door and went inside. Echo and Luke had already gone to bed. "Good," she thought, relieved that she would not have to explain what happened. She was out for two hours. Much longer than usual. She quickly and quietly got dressed, climbed into bed, and fell asleep.

Nov. 14th, 2012, 7:45 AM

"So, who was that guy again?" a gravedigger asked his colleague, standing up and resting his arms on his shovel.

"What guy?" The other gravedigger asked.

"The guy that died," the first gravedigger replied, looking around at the vast, gloomy, scenery that surrounded him.

"Look at the headstone, Brainiac," his colleague retorted, forcing his shovel into the soggy ground.

The gravedigger looked at the headstone. Robert Christiansen, it read. "Oh, my God," the gravedigger muttered.

"What?" his colleague asked, standing up and looking at the headstone.

"Jack, that's my name," the gravedigger said.

Jack frowned at the headstone. "It's probably just a coincidence, Rob," he said, putting his hand on Rob's shoulder. "Nothing to flip out over." And with that, he went back to work, trying to penetrate the earth with his shovel.

"Hey, Rob, can you gimme a hand?" he called, looking over at where Rob was standing. But, Rob was not there. Instead, he saw a statue of an angel holding out his index finger at the exact spot where Rob used to be. Jack rubbed his eyes and looked again. This time, the angel was looking directly at him, with its hands out. Terrified, Jack turned around and began running through the graveyard, trying to get away from the angel. He stopped and looked around. No angel. He turned back, only to see it standing exactly one foot away from him, its teeth bared menacingly. Jack cried out in terror and began to run the other way. "Help!" he shouted; "Somebody help me!" Suddenly, he felt a cold hand grasping his wrist. He squeezed his eyes shut and prepared himself for his impending doom.

Nov. 15th, 2012, 10:30 AM

"Hey, Echo," Zanna called, holding out the newspaper. "Did you hear about this?"

"Hear about what?" Echo asked, looking up from her breakfast.

"A couple of guys went missing from that old cemetery downtown," Zanna explained, holding out the newspaper.

"Cool," Echo said, pretending to pay attention. "I have to go, so I'll see you tonight, ok?"

"Sure," Zanna said, rolling her eyes. She stood up, put the newspaper on the kitchen counter, and turned on the TV. Just a day or two before, there was a news story in the paper on how several people reported seeing something fall from the sky. Everyone was trying to figure out what it could have been, but Zanna knew what it was. It was the mysterious Doctor and his "TARDIS". She never did tell anyone, because she did not think that anyone would believe her. I'm cool with that, she thought, my own little secret. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing and she went over to answer it. "Hello?" she called, unenthusiastically.

"Hey, this is Keira," the voice on the other end said.

Zanna was surprised to be hearing from her younger sister. Keira never really called her very often.

"This is about Garrett, isn't it?" Zanna dared to ask.

"Well, I woke up this morning, and Garrett -" Keira began.

"Lemme guess," Zanna interrupted, "Garrett heard about the guys going missing from the cemetery and he wants to investigate."

"Yeah, pretty much," Keira said. "I called Caleb and Matt too, and they said that they'll be right over."

"Oh, this'll be good," Zanna thought to herself as she heard the mention of their older brothers. Her parents were the type of people who wanted a lot of children. She had two older brothers named Caleb and Matt, a younger sister named Keira, and a younger brother named Garrett. They were all born a year apart, with Matt being the oldest at twenty, and Garrett being the youngest at sixteen.

"I'll meet you there," Zanna said automatically.

"Typical Garrett," she thought, hanging up and going to get her jacket. She quickly got ready and headed over to the cemetery as quick as she could. When she got there, she saw that Matt, Caleb, and Keira were already waiting for her.

"Where is he?" Zanna asked.

"Down that way," Keira replied, pointing at the area where Garrett was standing.  
It's like the Wal-mart incident all over again, Zanna thought, as they began to walk towards him. When he saw them, he did a face-palm and mouthed something that looked like "oh, no."

"What are you doing here?" Garrett shouted at them.

"Garrett, you need to stop getting yourself into trouble," Zanna exclaimed. "Two guys went missing from this place a couple days ago. There could be muggers in there for all we know!" Zanna stopped for a second, thinking about what she just said. "It couldn't have been a mugger," she thought. "If it was a mugger, the gravediggers' bodies would have been found by now." Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed a statue out of the corner of her eye. Just then, it changed its position from crying, to standing upright and facing her and the others.

"Wasn't that statue crying a few seconds ago?" Caleb asked.  
They all looked at each other and looked back. The angel was now standing six inches away from them, baring its claws and teeth.

"Oh my God!" Caleb shouted.

The next thing Zanna knew, they were all running towards a fence on the edge of the property. Once they reached the fence, Caleb, Matt, and Keira clambered over to the other side. Before Zanna started climbing, she looked around and noticed that Garrett was not with them.

"Oh, for God's sake," Zanna thought. "I'll go and get him," she told her siblings; "You guys wait here."

She turned and ran back to find Garret threatening the statue with an aluminum baseball bat.

"Not so tough now, are ya," he jeered, preparing to swing.

"Garret," Zanna hissed; "Get over here!"

Garret turned and glared defiantly at his sister, then turned back to see that the angel was standing even closer to him than before. Garrett screamed and fell backwards in surprise.

Suddenly, Zanna realized how it was not able to attack them yet. It stayed perfectly still when at least one of them was looking at it, and it only moved when a distraction made them look away. "Of course," she thought. "Why didn't I notice that before."

"Garrett," she called to her brother. "I get it now. They only move when we're not looking at them."

"That's crazy!" Garrett exclaimed, distracting Zanna once again. They looked back and saw that the angel was now standing over Garrett, causing them both to cry out.

"Stop distracting me, you idiot!" Zanna shouted, trying not to take her eyes off the angel.

"Keep looking at it," a familiar sounding voice said. "Don't blink."

Zanna nodded, fighting to keep her eyes open. She knew exactly who that voice belonged to. The voice belonged to the same man she had spoken to three days earlier. That voice belonged to the Doctor.

"Don't look at its eyes. Look at the angel, but not at its eyes, understand?"  
Zanna nodded again, avoiding eye contact with the statue. "What is that thing?" she asked.

"It's a Weeping Angel," the Doctor told her. "Now what I need you to do; what I need you and your brother to do is run. I need you both to run as fast as you can, and don't stop until you are as far away from here as possible. Is that clear?"

Zanna nodded again.

"Good, now run," the Doctor said.

Immediately, Zanna and Garrett began running as fast as they could. Once they got to the fence, they climbed over to the other side where the others were waiting for them.

"Who was that?" Garrett gasped.

"Some guy I met a few days ago. Kinda weird. He calls himself the Doctor," Zanna explained.

"Really," Garrett exclaimed with mock fascination. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Oh, shut up!" Zanna exclaimed. "And now that we're talking, why in the freaking Hell would you decide that your own damn sense of honour was more important than your own safety? Would it kill you to use your common sense? Dammit, Garrett, I was worried sick!"

"I'm sorry, Zanna, I didn't think…" Garrett began.

"No you didn't," Zanna interrupted. "What you did was let your own stupidity cloud your judgment!"

"Don't call me stupid!" Garrett shouted turning and storming away.  
Zanna and the others watched him go.

"I'll catch up to him," Keira said, turning to leave. "See you later."  
Caleb and Matt followed her. They headed down the sidewalk until they got to the car they had driven to the cemetery in. Then they started the motor and drove off.

Zanna turned and started back to the apartment. As she walked, she thought of the Doctor. "This is the second time I saw him and I'm still at a loss as to what this is all about. Maybe if I look for him again, I'll be able to figure this out," she thought to herself. She trudged through the puddles on the sidewalk and crossed the street. She kept walking until she got to Yonge Street and came to the alleyway where she first saw the box land a few days before. She turned the corner and saw the box again, only this time it was no longer on its side, but standing upright. "Here we go," she thought, approaching the box and preparing to knock on the door.

"Zanna!" a voice called, startling her. She turned around to see Garrett frantically running towards her. "They're coming to get me!"

"Oh, for God's sake!" Zanna muttered, rolling her eyes. "What now, Garrett?"

"I ticked off some really bad kids," Garrett said urgently, stopping next to Zanna. "You gotta hide me!" He looked around frantically before finally trying the doors on the blue box. The doors opened and he ran in, dragging Zanna by the arm. "Shut the door!" Garrett shouted. "Shutthedoor, shutthedoor, shutthedoor!" Zanna did what he said.

"Didn't see that coming," Garrett remarked, noticing how much bigger the box was on the inside. Suddenly, there was a loud thump against the doors.

"You've really done it this time, eh?" Zanna said.

"Shut up!" Garrett hissed. They pressed their ears against the door. Another loud thump made them jump back in surprise.

"Get out here you little punk!" an angry voice shouted. It was Amber.

"Oh, God!" Zanna exclaimed. Amber was the same age as she was and succeeded in making high school a living hell for her. Amber and her posse were always picking on the other students. She had three friends, Trinity, Bree, and Dawn, and together, they terrorized almost every other girl at the school. There were always rumors going around about Amber keeping a gun in her locker. Zanna never thought that to be true, though. If Amber really had a gun in her locker, she would have been expelled.

Zanna heard another thump, as if the box was being struck with a baseball bat.

"I may have screwed up a little," Garrett said.

"Yeah, you screwed up a lot," Zanna retorted.

"Zanna, we don't want you. Just give us the twerp." This time it was Trinity.

Trinity was the one who never really took an interest in Zanna, most likely because she never saw her has much of a threat, or even much fun to bully. Most of the time, Trinity just left her alone.

"One would think that a guy would be more like this," Garrett exclaimed.

"Okay, that's just sexist," Zanna retorted. "What did you do to make them mad, anyway?"

"I shot at them with a paintball gun, threw eggs at them, and called them ugly," Garrett admitted, lowering his gaze.

"Paintball gun. Give it," Zanna demanded, holding out her hand. Garrett grumbled and handed her the paintball gun.

"Ammo?" Zanna demanded, holding her hand out again. Garrett handed her his backpack.

"Anything else in here?" Zanna wondered, opening the backpack. "Let's see now. Switchblade, spray paint, firecrackers, lighter, throwing knives, aluminum baseball bat, and what's in this flask?" Zanna wondered, unscrewing the top. She sniffed it and took a sip. "Cider," she said, licking her lips. "I think I'll just keep this backpack with me."

"Thank God he didn't bring that homemade flamethrower of his," she thought.

"Aw, come on!" Garrett whined.

Amber swung at the box a few more times before stopping all of the sudden. Zanna put her ear back against the door to see if she could hear what was going on.

"Oi! What the hell are you doing?" a voice demanded. It was the Doctor, and Zanna could tell that judging by the tone of his voice, he was not amused.

"Go home, all of you. Go on," he commanded.

Garrett jumped back. "C'mon, Zanna, we gotta hide!" he exclaimed, grabbing her by the sleeve and heading towards a railing. He quickly clambered over the railing and tried to drag Zanna with him, but she batted his hands away.

"Stop it!" she hissed. "Quit being immature!"

"I knew there was something in here that those girls were after."  
Zanna spun around and saw that the Doctor was standing six inches away from her. He had his arms folded across his chest, and he was eying her suspiciously. After taking a good look at him, Zanna realized that he was wearing different clothing. He no longer wore a brown tweed jacket and red bowtie, but a purple jacket and waistcoat and a patterned bowtie. "How did you two get in here?" he asked.

"I really just wanted to talk to you about what happened in the cemetery, so I decided to look for you, but then Garrett came running over saying that some kids were after him, so we hid in here." Zanna explained. "Do you usually leave the door unlocked?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"No, I don't," the Doctor told her. "I suppose she just let you in."

"So you're saying that the box is alive?" Zanna asked.

"Yes," the Doctor replied, raising his eyebrows.

Zanna smiled. "Well, in that case, I guess she just didn't have the heart to watch us get clubbed to death," she joked, laughing nervously.

"It's not funny!" Garrett shouted from beneath their feet. "They wanted to beat the crap out of me!"

"Yeah, and it's your own damn fault," Zanna retorted.

"Oi! Isn't that the same kid who was trying to take on that Weeping Angel?" the Doctor asked her.

"Yep," Zanna muttered, covering her eyes with her left hand.

"Always looking for trouble, aren't we," the Doctor teased, smiling mischievously at Garrett. From below, Zanna could hear Garrett start to grumble.

"Well, they're gone now, so I think it'd be best if you'd run along now," the Doctor told them, opening the front door on the left. Garrett clambered up over the railing and darted through the door.

"I'm keeping the backpack!" Zanna shouted after him and he ignored her.

Zanna watched as her brother raced around a corner and out of sight. After watching him leave, Zanna turned back toward the Doctor. "Can we talk for a minute?" she asked him.

The Doctor nodded and closed the door.

"Was that your brother?" he asked her. Zanna nodded.

"And I'm assuming that those are his things?" he said, pointing at the name written on the backpack's left strap.

"Yeah," Zanna replied. "I confiscated it off of him. It makes me nervous when he carries that kind of stuff around. He keeps getting into trouble. "It's really worrying the hell out of me." "Not really the subject I had in mind, but ok," she thought to herself.

"Just give him some time, and he'll most likely grow out of it," the Doctor told her.

"Do you mind telling that to my mom?" Zanna remarked.

"Do you still live with your parents, Zanna?" the Doctor asked.  
Zanna shook her head. "I moved out a few years ago. Just couldn't cope with my mom's depression. I feel guilty about it sometimes. I feel like I was being selfish back then." It was beyond her why she would tell all this to someone she had just recently met, but now that she was already talking about it, she decided to continue.

"What about your dad?"

Zanna's body went rigid. "He's…not around," she said quickly. Zanna's father was still a touchy subject for her, ever since he was killed in Afghanistan five years ago.

"Ah…" the Doctor responded. "Well, I hope things work out. Nice talking to you, Zanna." Zanna recognized this as her cue to leave.

"Sorry about the trouble we caused. It won't happen again," Zanna said, about to walk out the door.

The Doctor opened his mouth as if he was going to stay something, but then stopped suddenly as if something was wrong. He frantically yanked the door shut and rushed Zanna farther into the console room. Then he rushed back and opened the door just enough to peer through.

"No, no, NO!" he shouted. He scrambled over to the controls in the middle of the room and turned on the monitor.

"What's going on?" Zanna demanded.

"Oh, nothing," The Doctor exclaimed. "It's not like we've been teleported or anything."

"What?" Zanna screeched. She dashed over to the monitor and looked at the screen. The sight that greeted her was no longer an alleyway in Toronto; it was what looked like a control room of some sorts.

The Doctor turned and headed towards the door. "Now, Zanna," he said, turning around and pointing at her. "I'm going out to take a look. You need to stay put and not follow me. Understand?"

Zanna nodded. She reached into her brother's backpack, removed the baseball bat, and offered it to him, but he shook his head. "There won't be any need for that," he said.

"How do you know?" Zanna pressed. "They could be hostile."

"Violence doesn't always have to be the answer," he said. "Now come on. Don't look so nervous."

The Doctor was right. Zanna was nervous. There was most definitely a possibility of impending danger, and the Doctor was just going to waltz on out there?

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked.

"Absolutely," the Doctor said, cheerfully, reaching into his jacket and taking out an object that looked like a small, oddly-shaped flashlight. "Great! So he's just going to waltz on out there armed with a flashlight," Zanna thought, staring at the object in his hand.

"Now…" he began enthusiastically, patting her on the shoulder. "I'll be right back."

Zanna smiled nervously.

The Doctor stepped closer to the door and opened it while giving Zanna a reassuring smile. Then he stepped into the control room.

"Hello," he called, shutting the door behind him.

Zanna darted over to the monitor to see what was going on. For a few minutes, the Doctor just stood there, calling out to whoever could be around to listen. Soon, he was joined by a woman. She was tall and slender with long, black hair and pale skin. She was very pretty, but also very mean-looking. She stood imperiously with her hands resting on her hips.

"Hello, Doctor," she sneered indignantly.

"The Rani," the Doctor said, coldly acknowledging the woman. "It's been a long time since I've seen you last."

"You look young. Which incarnation is this?"

"Eleventh," said the Doctor. "You're looking youthful as well. How many times have you regenerated?"

The Rani ignored his question and instead changed the subject. "The last few times I saw you, you had companions," she said. "Do you have one now?"

"I'm here alone," the Doctor told her. "My companions aren't here."

"It's not like you, not dragging along one of those stupid apes from that miserable planet," the Rani sneered.

"Get on with it, Rani," the Doctor grumbled. "What do you want from me this time?"

"Can't it wait, Doctor?" the Rani questioned mockingly. "We have only just begun catching up."

The Doctor remained silent.

"Very well," the Rani said with a shrug. She raised her right hand and waved it forward. Almost immediately, two men shambled forward in an animalistic manner and grabbed the Doctor by his arms. Then, they dragged him down a hallway and out of sight with the Rani following them.

Zanna stood in front of the monitor, finding it difficult to understand what had just happened. "Incarnations? Regenerations? When the Rani spoke about a miserable planet, was that Earth?" Zanna shook her head. "That's not important right now," she thought. "What's important right now is that the Doctor is in trouble. Let's see…what should I do? The Doctor told me to stay put, but…..you know what? Screw it! I'm gonna go and help him!"

She removed her jacket, and scarf, so she would move more freely and pulled her hood up over her head. She decided to bring her brother's backpack with her, since it had just been made very clear that the people who captured herself and the Doctor were indeed hostile. When she was ready, she walked over to the door and slowly opened it enough to look around. All clear. She took a deep breath and walked through the doorway.


	2. Chapter 2

The Rani looked at the screen belonging to a small monitor that she was holding in her hands. "So you lied to me," she sneered. "You _did _have a companion with you."

The Doctor sighed. _Why is it that nobody ever listens to me when I tell them to stay put_, he thought.

"Too bad she won't be able to help you," the Rani said with a smirk. "I'll have to send the rejects after her."

Then she stopped for a moment to think. "Or, I could leave her for now, just to see what she does. Rejects," she called.

Two zombie-like men shambled into the lab. "I want you to keep an eye on the girl. Wait until she gets close enough to my laboratory, and then take her. Bring her here alive. I have just the experiment that she would be a perfect test subject for."

"Rani, leave her out of this," the Doctor said. "She didn't ask to be here. She's only here by accident."

The Rani scowled. "Just like that other simpering ape I had the misfourtune of reviving. What was her name? Cass?"

The colour drained from the Doctor's face.

"Oh, yes. That was her name. One of the only ones who came back right. Hated Time Lords. She was a tough one to break, but I was able to manage after a few months. It was a little psychological experiment I conducted."

"What have you done with her?" the Doctor demanded.

The Rani aimed a terrible grin towards the Doctor, sensing his discomfort. "She should have known that after refusing your help, she would end up with someone far worse," she boasted.

"If you harmed so much as a hair on her head, then I swear, I'll…"

"You'll what? Talk me to death? Give me one of your pathetic speeches?"

The Doctor said nothing, glaring at her with disgust.

"No? Right then. Time to get started," the Rani announced.

"Rani, stop this!" a young woman shouted, storming over to face the Rani. "You have my regenerations. Isn't that enough?"

"This does not concern you, Epsilon," the Rani said, waving her away.

"I don't care! You need to stop this!" Epsilon shouted, approaching the Rani and attempting to put herself between her and the Doctor.

The Rani grabbed Epsilon's wrist and twisted it, forcing her into a crouching position. "I'll deal with you later," she snarled. "Rejects," she barked. "Lock her up."

A man and a woman entered. They grabbed Epsilon by her arms and proceeded to escort her through the door. "You'll regret this day's work," she promised. The Rani ignored her.

"How many more have you got locked up here?" the Doctor demanded.

The same man and woman entered pushing a surgical table. The man proceeded to restrain the Doctor while the woman took a syringe out of her pocket and injected it into his neck. The drug took effect immediately, causing him to go limp. The rejects then lifted him onto the surgical table and fastened the restraints around his arms, legs, and waist.

"Alright," the Rani said, turning on a small machine near the surgical table and moving a cart holding surgical tools so that it was also within her reach. "Let's see how many regenerations you've got left."

...

Zanna looked around. Nothing. The room she had entered was completely deserted. _Come on,_ she thought, _where did you go?_ Then a doorway caught her eye. The same doorway that the woman and her goons went through with the Doctor. _Bingo_. She adjusted the straps on her brother's backpack, walked through the doorway and into a corridor. All the way down the corridor was a very large number of doors. "You've gotta be kidding me!" she hissed.

She approached the first door and opened it just enough to peek through. All she found was a table and chairs. In the centre of the table was a small globe on a stand. Curious, she walked over to take a better look at it. It was about a decimeter in diameter and gave off an eerie cyan glow. She reached out to touch it but then changed her mind, pulling her hand away and shaking her head.

Quickly and quietly, she left the room and tried another door. This door opened to reveal a brightly lit room with a small cubicle inside resembling a holding cell. In the holding cell was a woman. The woman had brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and wore what looked like a military uniform. She turned to face Zanna, eying her suspiciously.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Zanna Sterling," Zanna said. "What's your name?"

"Cass," the woman replied. "How did you get here?"

"I was abducted along with some guy I was with at the time," Zanna explained. "Just before it happened, he saved me and my brother from a monster that was attacking us. I followed him so that I could thank him properly but then my brother was being chased by some really bad kids that he pissed off and we hid in his box…vehicle….thing." Zanna frowned. _My God, I'm quite a blabbermouth today,_ she thought.

"Then what happened?" Cass pressed.

"Well, he came in, asked us why we were there, I explained our situation, and my brother left. But I wanted to talk to him for a little longer, so I stayed. We talked for a minute, and then I went to leave, but then we were abducted. I mean like the whole ship was teleported into her control room. Then he went out into the room and that lady and her goons showed up."

Cass nodded. "Go on," she said

"They started talking. Kind of like how you would talk to an old rival from high school. They told each other how youthful they looked…." Zanna paused, rubbing her forehead in confusion. "And they were asking each other how many times they…_regenerated_. Then she and her goons took him down this way"

All of the sudden, Cass seemed uncomfortable. She swallowed hard. "So that man…" she ventured. "Did he tell you what his name was?"

"He didn't tell me his real name. He just calls himself the Doctor," Zanna replied, sensing the other woman's discomfort.

"And the ship," Cass continued. "What did it look like?"

"It looked like a police phone box that they used in Britain during the '60s. My mom has a photo of one hanging up in the living room of her house. It was bigger on the inside too." Zanna said. Then she frowned. "Not my mom's living room, the ship, I mean." She corrected herself.

"Oh, God," Cass exclaimed.

"What?" Zanna ventured.

"I met him before," Cass explained. "Just before I died."

"Your turn," Zanna said smugly. "Tell me what happened."

"I was on a ship that was about to crash," Cass explained. "He just showed up all of the sudden. We ran to the back of the ship where he left his TARDIS. After I realized what he was I refused to go with him."

"Why?"

"I wanted nothing to do with his kind back then. The Time Lords were corrupt. He said he was one of the nice ones, but I couldn't have known that for sure."

"So you chose to die instead of being rescued," Zanna said.

Cass nodded. "And sometime after that, the Rani found me and used me for her experiment."

"And if you had gone with him, you wouldn't have died, and you wouldn't be here," Zanna said.

"True," Cass agreed bitterly. "But nothing can change that now." Then she looked up at Zanna. "So where is he?" she asked.

"Oh, he's in hot water. The Rani and her goons took him down this way," Zanna said urgently. "I need to find him." She was startled by the sound of a man screaming.

"It's the Doctor. I need to help him," Zanna said, frantically turning to leave.

"Wait, Zanna," Cass said urgently.

"What?"

"How do you know this isn't a trick?"

"He told me to stay in the box when we were abducted," Zanna explained. "I don't think he would have done that if he was in on this."

"I hope you're right," Cass remarked.

"Me too," Zanna muttered under her breath. "He's our best shot at getting out of here."

"I know where they could be. If you let me out, I can show you," Cass suggested reluctantly. She did not want to get involved, but the idea of going home was all too tempting.

"Okay," Zanna said. "But if you pull any bull crap on me, you're going right back. Got it?"

She reached into her pocket, pulled out a pocket knife and began to pick at the lock to the holding cell. After at least five minutes of jiggling the knife's handle, the holding cell opened, and without saying a word, Cass walked through the threshold and stood across from Zanna.

"Alright," she said calmly. "Come on."

They quietly walked down the corridor and stopped in front of a pair of metal doors.

"This leads to the Rani's lab," Cass explained, pressing a button on the left-hand side. The doors slid open, revealing another corridor.

"One would think that this place would be heavily guarded," Zanna commented.

"TARDISes are very big," Cass explained. "Too big for every area to be closely guarded."

"How long were you here?" Zanna asked.

"Six months," Cass answered.

"And you were in the holding cell for that long?" Zanna questioned.

"Yes, but I can remember from when I was first brought back. I'm just taking you back the way I came."

"You have a good memory," Zanna remarked.

"Thank you," Cass replied, smiling at Zanna. "Although I _have_ been out here a few times. At least until she realized that I had no intention of becoming her personal Igor."

When they came to the edge of the corridor, Cass and Zanna flattened themselves against the wall and peered around the corner. There was a parallel corridor with another pair of metal doors on the wall that was facing them. Just to the right, there was a vent big enough for a person to fit through.

"Alright," Zanna said. "Crawl through the vent." She began to approach the vent, but Cass grabbed her by her hood and pulled her back.

"They might hear us," she warned. "We need to come up with some kind of distraction."

"What for?" Zanna questioned. "There's no one here."

"The Rani tends to have the rejects patrolling around here, since it's where her lab is," Cass explained.

"Since we're on the subject of the rejects, what happened to them?" Zanna wondered. "Why are they all…y'know…" she waved her hand in front of her face.

"You know how I told you that she was able to bring me back after I died?" Cass asked her.

Zanna nodded.

"There were others she did the experiment on. Some only came back for a few minutes and then died, some didn't come back at all, and others merely became living corpses; lifeless shells of who they used to be."

"So she has zombies working for her?" Zanna questioned.

"Yes," Cass replied.

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Cass decided to change the subject.

"So what kind of skills do you have that we can use?" she asked.

"I'm an experienced engineer. I've had experience in engineering since I was eleven years old and I've been practicing ever since," Zanna explained.

"Anything else?" Cass pressed.

"I also practice knife throwing in my spare time. It's just something I do for sport to relieve stress, but I suppose we can use that as well," Zanna continued. "What about you?" she prompted.

"I'm a pilot and an engineer," Cass answered. "And I'm also good with a firearm."

"Uhhh…if you still hate Time Lords, then we'll lay off the weapons for now. We're on a rescue mission," Zanna said, frowning.

"I guess I don't exactly hate them as much as I did back then. There was a war going on. A war that destroyed many lives, many civilizations. The Time Lords and another species called the Daleks were the most involved. No one could tell the difference between either of them when the war was at its worst," Cass explained.

"I guess I don't blame you for refusing to go with the Doctor. He could have been anybody," Zanna admitted.

Cass nodded before continuing with her story. "When the Rani brought me back, she showed me footage of the Fall of Arcadia and kept asking me if I was satisfied watching her people being murdered. It was horrible. All this time, I thought that all Time Lords were monsters, but the ones I saw being slaughtered by Daleks on the footage were just _people_. I guess that's the problem with war. You're too wrapped up in fighting to even consider that not every member of a certain race fits under the same label." Then she stopped for a minute and looked around the corner. She waved for Zanna to come closer and take a look as well. They both saw two rejects exiting another holding cell.

"Do you think the Doctor could be in there?" Zanna asked.

"Not sure, but it's worth a look," Cass replied.

Quickly and quietly, they crept over to the door to the holding cell and walked inside. There was a young woman sitting behind a force field. She had shoulder length, black hair, light green eyes, and pale skin. She looked like she had to be at least twenty years old. She was sitting very quietly, nodding her head as if she was listening to someone talking to her and giving her instructions.

"Epsilon," Cass called to her.

Epsilon looked up and jumped at the sight of the newcomers. "Cass," she squeaked. "How did you get out of your cell?"

"Have you met the new girl?" Cass asked facetiously. "She picks locks."

"Good," Epsilon remarked. "Now can she let me out?"

"_She_ is right here," Zanna said, taking out her pocket knife and tampering with the lock. "And the sooner we find the Doctor, the better."

"The Doctor," Epsilon repeated. "The Rani has him in her laboratory right now. She's going to extract his remaining regenerations like she did with me." She lifted her shirt a few inches to reveal a long scar on her abdomen. She stood up and walked over to join Cass and Zanna. "I'm Epsilon," she said, introducing herself to Zanna. "Pleased to meet you."

"Zanna Sterling," Zanna replied, shaking Epsilon's hand.

"Do you have your sonic probe?" Cass asked Epsilon.

"Yes," Epsilon replied cheerfully, waving the probe in Cass and Zanna's faces and flashing the cyan light on the end. "It wouldn't have worked in the holding cell, though. Everything's tamper proof in there."

They left the holding cell and began walking towards the entrance to the laboratory.

"Wait a minute," Epsilon said. "The rejects could be guarding the entrance from the inside. We need to come up with a plan."

"We could do something to lure them away," Zanna suggested. "I have some firecrackers in my backpack."

"Ah, but where are we going to set them off?" Cass questioned.

"In the TARDIS, there's a library, a wardrobe, and a storage room," Epsilon suggested. "And we can also put some in the ventilation system for good measure."

"Okay," Zanna said, nodding in satisfaction. "There's sixteen firecrackers in this backpack. We'll put four in each area."

They stopped immediately and hid around the corner when they saw a reject walking towards them. He saw them, but he continued to walk down the corridor.

"Where's he going?" Zanna questioned.

"Most likely to warn the others," Cass replied.

"So what do we do now?" Zanna asked.

"We run," Epsilon said.

"Where?" Zanna demanded.

"It doesn't matter," Epsilon said. "Just run."

They ran swiftly down the corridor before finally being cornered by the entire horde of rejects.

"Now what?" Cass demanded.

"We fight them off, that's what," Zanna exclaimed, pulling the aluminum baseball bat out of her backpack and swinging it at the nearest reject and knocking him to the ground.

"Fine by me," Cass said, elbowing another reject in the face and slamming him against the wall.

"Not what I was hoping for, but alright." Epsilon said. She grabbed a reject by the scruff of her neck, forcing her to bend over and kneeing her in the stomach.

Then, they were joined by a man who had fought his way through the crowd of rejects. Zanna was too distracted to pay enough attention to the newcomer to really see who he was, but she was able to make out a military uniform. From what she saw of him, he seemed to be excellent at hand-to-hand combat. He punched, he elbowed, he dragged, he shoved. The rejects kept coming, but he was still fighting them off.

Suddenly, a reject grabbed Zanna's arms and twisted them behind her back. She fought as hard as she could, but it was no use. "Okay, now I see why fighting may not have been the best idea," she shouted to Epsilon. But Epsilon was not listening. Instead, she saw the young Time Lady collapsing on the floor as a reject finished injecting her with a sedative. She looked around and saw that Cass and the newcomer were also being sedated. Finally, she felt a needle being injected into her neck. The sedative took effect immediately, causing her to become lightheaded. Her vision became blurry, her limbs grew weak, and she collapsed onto the floor. Then her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out entirely.


	3. Chapter 3

Epsilon rubbed her eyes. The drug that was used on her made her feel groggy. She looked around. Everyone else was out cold. _That must have been quite a powerful drug to be able to work on both humans _and _Gallifreyans,_ she thought, massaging her temples._ I must know what it is called. Now, let's see who else is here, shall we?_ She was able to recognize Cass lying nearby. The two of them had a very rocky start in the beginning. Cass hated Time Lords, and therefore, hated Epsilon as well. Epsilon, in turn, found Cass' attitude to be rather disagreeable at times. But luckily, after six months had gone by, things had improved considerably between them. Cass had finally been convinced that not all Gallifreyans were evil, and in turn, Epsilon no longer referred to Cass as a stupid ape. Epsilon and Cass may not have liked each other very much after those six months, but Epsilon still considered Cass to be the most trustworthy person there was at the time. She remembered their first meeting like it was yesterday.

"Let go of me!" a woman screeched. Epsilon looked up from the book she was reading just in time to see the woman the voice belonged to being shoved into the holding cell with her.

"Hello," Epsilon greeted quietly, looking down at the woman.

"Who are you?" the woman asked.

"I'm Epsilon," Epsilon said, introducing herself.

"Cass." the woman introduced herself, nodding. "How long have you been here?"

"Twenty years," Epsilon replied, gesturing towards the tally marks that filled the entire wall.

"That can't be right," Cass commented. "You look far too young to have been here for that long, unless..." her voice trailed off and the colour drained from her face. "Stay back!" she shouted, scrambling over to he other side of the cell.

"What?" Epsilon demanded, spreading her arms out defensively.

"You're a Time Lord! A demon! What the hell are you doing here? You should be back on your battlefield!" Cass ranted.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Epsilon muttered. _Just my luck,_ she thought. _I've always wanted a cellmate and I'm stuck with this imbecile! _"Come on! I don't bite!"__

_"Go back and finish fighting in the Time War! I'll bet there's part of the universe left __standing__ with your name on it!" _Cass continued_. ___

"Right!" Epsilon exclaimed, slamming her book onto a bench and standing up to face her tormenter. "I've got news for you! The Time War's over, lady! Gallifrey's gone! My people are gone! If this is what helps you sleep at night, then have at it! What else do you want to know? Do you want to know the number of people who died in the Fall of Arcadia? Do you want to know how many of them were children? Do you know the names of all my dead friends and relatives? Do you want me to show you what my house looked like before it was reduced to a pile of rubble? Eh? If it makes you happy, then be my guest! Maybe we can have tea and biscuits while we talk! We can start any time!"

She stopped, expecting some kind of comeback, but Cass just stood there and glared at her.

Epsilon relaxed a little. "Look," she continued. "I understand that you may have had some bad experiences with my people, but what did _I_ ever do to _you_? As far as I'm concerned, this is the first time we've met. You don't know me, and you're already judging me. _Why?_"

No answer.

"So you're not even going to talk to me now?" Epsilon demanded. She felt her temper beginning to rise again, but this time, she was able to keep it at bay.

Cass held her gaze for a moment and then looked away.

"No?" Epsilon pressed with mock surprise. "Then I'll just get back to my book." And with that, she sat down and continued reading as nothing had happened.

There was an awkward silence between them for what seemed like hours before Cass finally decided to speak up.

"So what are you doing here, anyway?" she questioned reluctantly.

"Ask the old hag driving this thing," Epsilon retorted.

"You mean she kidnapped you?" Cass asked her.

"No," Epsilon retorted. "I just followed her into her TARDIS, waltzed into this exact cell, and stayed there for twenty years." Then she relaxed a bit. "Look. I know you hate my entire species, and me too by the looks of it," she ventured. "In fact, I don't think I like you all that much either."

"What's your point?" Cass demanded.

"I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you. Since it's fairly obvious that neither of us are leaving this cell any time soon, can we at least try to co-operate? It would make our stay here much more pleasant. Hell, we don't even have to talk to each other. It goes like this: you leave me alone, and I'll leave you alone. Savvy?"

Cass held her gaze for a few seconds. "Fine," she sighed, throwing her hands up in exasperation. Then she turned away and sat against the wall. Epsilon smirked and laid back on the bench, reading her book.

...

Epsilon laughed quietly as the events of the past six months played in her mind. Things actually improved since Cass showed up. Even though they did not get along very well, Epsilon reckoned that it was better than being lonely.

Then she looked to see who else was in the cell. There was Zanna Sterling. The young girl who wanted to rescue the Doctor. She seemed like a nice enough girl, although unmistakably bold and impulsive. Epsilon decided that she would definitely like to get to know her better.

Epsilon laid back down and closed her eyes, but then sat back up when she heard Zanna and Cass beginning to stir.

"What happened?" Zanna wondered.

"We've all been drugged," Epsilon explained. "You may feel a bit drowsy, but it's just a side-effect. It'll wear off eventually."

"I've got a headache too," Zanna remarked. She looked around. "And they took my stuff...er...Garrett's stuff which I took...except maybe..." she reached into her boot and pulled out a throwing knife she was hiding incase she lost the backpack. She threw it at a small picture carved into the padded wall. A direct hit.

"Good throw," Epsilon commented. "How long have you been practicing?"

"Five years," Zanna said. She then retrieved the knife and turned back towards Cass and Epsilon. "Is there anything you have that they missed?" she asked.

Epsilon searched her pockets and pulled out her sonic probe. "It doesn't work in the holding cells, though," she admitted.

Zanna looked around and saw a ventilation system in a far corner. "Hello," she remarked, approaching it and examining the opening. It looked just big enough for a person to fit through and the door was held shut by four small screws secured in each corner. Zanna got to work immediately, using her knife to remove the screws. "Ta-da," she gloated when she finally got the vent open."

"I wish our old cell had a vent," Cass commented. "We could have done this months ago."

They quickly crawled into the vent and turned a corner. After crawling for what seemed like hours, they stopped in front of another opening and peered through. They were able to recognize the Doctor slouching against a wall with the man who helped them fight the rejects earlier. After getting a better look at him, they noticed that he was not really wearing military clothing. He was wearing dark jeans, a white undershirt, and a khaki jacket. He looked to be at least in his early twenties.

"Sufferin' from a bit of post-procedure sickness, aren't ya?" the man commented. "You're just gonna have to take it easy for a while, I'm afraid."

"I recall going through something like that," Epsilon whispered. "It happened after she removed my regenerations. I was sick for days."

Their attention was directed back towards the Doctor and the strange newcomer.

"So what is your name?" the Doctor asked the newcomer.

"Dodge," the young man replied. "What's yours?"

"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said, grinning smugly.

"Doctor who?" Dodge questioned.

"Just the Doctor," the Doctor replied. "So, Dodge, do you live in Ireland?" he asked, noticing Dodge's thick Irish accent.

"I did," Dodge replied. "At least until I died and ended up here."

The Doctor stood up and approached the force field keeping them in the holding cell. He took out his sonic device and tried to scan it, but the device would not work. "Of course," he muttered. "The Rani created a dead zone."

"A what?" Dodge exclaimed in confusion.

"You know those plastic bubbles that people often seal themselves inside of just for the fun of it?" the Doctor began.

"Yeah," Dodge replied.

"Well, don't, because it's nothing like that," the Doctor said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "It's a small space generated so that any device, not just a sonic one, would not work. It's quite effective, really. It's like we're trapped in a bubble. A no-electronics-allowed bubble...thing."

"So, it is like those plastic bubbles," Dodge said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes...ah...no, I...shut up!" the Doctor stammered before raising a canteen to his mouth and took a swig of its contents.

"Take it easy!" Dodge complained. "That's all the water we have for today."

"Ah. Sorry," the Doctor said sheepishly. "The procedure had left me quite parched, and there's someone hiding in the vent." He looked over at the vent that Zanna, Cass, and Epsilon were hiding in.

Zanna and Cass jumped. "How did he know we were hiding in the vent?" Zanna questioned.

"It's not polite to whisper," the Doctor said, raising an eyebrow. He approached the vent and peered through the shutters. "Quite a mess we're all in, eh?"

"Yeah," Zanna said. "Now can you get us out of here? I can feel the heat coming on."

"Screwdriver's not working," the Doctor said. He checked his pockets and found that they were emptied out. "Oi! Dodge! Have you got anything to loosen the bolts? Something that can fit. Something like..."

"This?" Dodge prompted, dangling a Celtic cross pendant in front of the Doctor's face.

"Ah. Good!" the Doctor exclaimed, grabbing the pendant and using it to remove the screws.

After a few minutes, the vent opened and the girls stumbled into the cell.

"Alright," said the Doctor, clapping his hands together. "Time to figure out a way to get out of here."


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor twirled around once, scanning the area in one go. "Bingo!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Cass questioned.

"While I was scanning our surroundings, I noticed one small detail: the force field keeping us in here is a type-three force field," the Doctor explained

"There are other kinds of force fields?" Zanna wondered.

"Of course!" the Doctor replied. "Just like there are other types of lamps and fruit-"

"And TARDISes," Epsilon interrupted matter-of-factly.

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed before continuing. "The Rani was always a very clever woman, but she was also always a very arrogant woman. Now the type-three force field is very dodgy, very unpredictable, but also very easily manipulated if you know how to do it. If it was hit with any sort of bullet or laser beam-"

"It would ricochet all over," Epsilon interrupted again.

"Oi! It's very rude to interrupt people while they're talking!" the Doctor scolded. Epsilon blushed and lowered her head in embarrassment.

"Right then," he continued. "This type of force field is very dodgy. It can be manipulated easily, like, for instance, if someone was to throw something sharp into it, it would disrupt the signal for enough time to get out. Now where will we be able to get something that can be thrown with enough force. Something sharp, something edgy."

"Like this?" Zanna asked, holding up her throwing knife before tossing it into the force field. When the knife reached the force field, it came to a complete stop, shattering it like glass.

"Alright, everyone," the Doctor said urgently. "Everyone out. Quickly."

They all dashed through the threshold, just in time to look back and see the force field correct itself.

"Now what?" Zanna questioned.

"We stop the Rani, find the TARDIS, and get ourselves out of here," the Doctor announced.

They headed down a corridor, making sure that they remained unseen by the rejects.

"Hope we're not in another one of those labyrinths eh, Cass?" Epsilon teased.

"Yeah," Cass said, laughing nervously. "I still don't know how she did it."

They stopped when they reached the entrance to the Rani's laboratory.

"Do you have a plan, Doctor?" Dodge asked.

"Well...no," the Doctor admitted.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Zanna questioned.

"We figure out how the Rani is reanimating people, and put a stop to it," the Doctor concluded.

They entered the laboratory and looked around. Epsilon headed for an jar on a table and activated her sonic probe at it to manipulate its opacity. The black metal turned clear to reveal at least eight packets of golden energy floating in water. Two of them had been used up, and she had not seen them in twenty years, but she knew that they were hers. She placed her hands on the jar and concentrated hard. Slowly, the packets dissolved and absorbed into her hands, travelling up her arms, and engulfing her entire body in a golden light before finally fading.

"Epsilon, some of those might have been the Doctor's," Zanna said.

"It's alright," the Doctor said. "They were hers. Now, apart from regeneration energy, what else does she use to revive people. He searched the lab and found what looked like several beakers filled with strange-looking chemicals.

"You know," Zanna said, trying to ignore the throbbing in her head. "The process could actually save people from dying."

"Yeah," the Doctor replied. "But it's a dodgy practice and it almost never works. Imagine trying to bring a loved one back to life and that person comes back as a zombie. It would be one hell of a reunion. Imagine dear old Gran coming back as a zombie."

"Brrrraaaaaiiiiiiinnnns!" Zanna joked, holding her arms out in front of her.

The Doctor took no notice of her, instead focusing on the mixture he was preparing.

"What are you making?" Cass wondered.

"It's an antidote that will bring the Rejects back to their natural state," the Doctor answered seriously.

"You mean back to being corpses?" Dodge corrected.

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed.

"But what would happen to Cass and Dodge?" Epsilon questioned.

"They were completely resurrected, so they'll be fine, as will everyone else," the Doctor told her. He finished the mixture and placed containers filled with the liquid, which was giving off a ghastly vapour, close to the vents. The vapour wafted through the openings and sure enough, they could hear a chorus of thuds overlapping each other as the reanimated corpses returned to their natural state.

"It worked," Epsilon said, raising her eyebrows.

"Of course it worked," the Doctor replied. "It's pure science."

They exited the laboratory and looked around. The ground was littered with Rejects, which were once again corpses. Epsilon took out her sonic probe and scanned them. "They're dead," she announced.

"Well, of course they're dead. They were dead to begin with," the Doctor replied.

Epsilon deactivated her sonic probe and held the tip against her chin as if she was in deep thought.

"Oh, you've got a sonic," the Doctor said cheerfully, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah," Epsilon said. "I built it years ago when I was...going through a phase." She blushed.

"It's good that you've still got it, because it just might come in handy," the Doctor said matter-of-factly.

"Sorry to interrupt, but what do you think the Rani will do when she finds out about the Rejects?" Cass questioned.

"I can't imagine her being happy about it," the Doctor replied. "But I'll have to convince her to stop this business for once and for all."

"Will she listen?" Zanna asked.

"Not likely, but it's worth a try. May be she'll have the sense in her. It's always good to give your enemies the chance to get themselves out of the situation willingly, rather then force them."

"And if she doesn't listen?" Dodge prompted.

"We'll have to stop her somehow," the Doctor answered. "But violence isn't the answer."

Suddenly, a wave of turbulence knocked everyone off balance. "What's going on?" Zanna shouted.

"Seems that the Rani isn't taking this well," the Doctor said. "She's disrupted the warp core! Quick! Everyone to the TARDIS!" He dashed back to the console room with everyone else following after him.

"What's going to happen to the Rani?" Zanna questioned. "If we take her with us, she might cause more trouble, but if we leave her, what will happen to her?"

"She'll be stranded in the Time Vortex forever," the Doctor answered. When they reached the console room, they found the Rani clinging to the console.

"Rani, come on! We have to get out of here!" the Doctor shouted.

"What? So you can lock me up like you tried to do with the Master?" the Rani demanded. "I'm not interested!"

"How do you know about that?" the Doctor questioned. The Rani ignored him, turning away and stumbling over to the railing.

"Doctor, come on!" Epsilon shouted, leaning on the TARDIS for support. Knowing that there was nothing he could do to convince her, the Doctor turned sadly and stumbled over to the TARDIS. He opened the doors and beckoned for everyone to follow. Zanna and Dodge dashed through the doors. Epsilon started to enter through the doors herself, but then turned to see Cass leaning against the console with a nervous look on her face.

"Cass, come on!" she shouted.

Cass shook her head, appearing to be deep in thought.

"Come on!" Epsilon screeched before calming down. "Either you come with us and have a chance of getting home, or you stay here and be trapped with the Rani for the rest of your life."

"I remember him," Cass said. "I was on a crashing ship. He came and offered to help me, but I refused."

"And now you have an opportunity to accept his help," Epsilon said. "I thought that over those six months, I was able to convince you that not all Gallifreyans were monsters. Please, Cass. Just this once, forget what we are and let us help you!"

Cass hesitated for a moment before looking back at Epsilon and dashing through the TARDIS doors. Quickly, Epsilon followed her. The TARDIS doors slammed behind them and the vessel took off.

The Doctor said nothing as he worked the controls on the console, instead avoiding eye contact as he flew the TARDIS. After some hesitance, Zanna opened her moth to speak.

"I'm...I'm sorry about the Rani," she stammered, placing her hand on his shoulder. She had trouble getting those words out. She always had issues comforting people and had trouble finding the right thing to say. She did not want to make him feel worse, so she kept it short, but at the same time, she felt awkward for saying so little and frustrated at how forced it sounded.

The Doctor said nothing, instead taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. He turned to address everyone else. "Now then, everyone. Where to? Home? Anywhere in particular?"

"I'd like to go home," Dodge said. "I know my family thinks I'm dead, but I'd like to see them anyway. Back home to Dublin in the year of nineteen eighty-two for me."

The Doctor nodded. "Home it is." Then he turned to Epsilon.

"I don't know," she said. "The Rani's TARDIS was the only home I had after Gallifrey was frozen. I don't know what will happen now. I guess I'll just go where the road takes me."

"Or you could come with me," the Doctor suggested. "It's been a while since I travelled with another Gallifreyan."

Epsilon perked up. "You really mean it? Oh, thank you! I promise I won't be any trouble!" She jumped forward and threw her arms around the Doctor, almost knocking him to the ground in the process. She quickly composed herself and took a few steps back. "What about Zanna and Cass? Do you think they might like to come?"

Zanna's jaw dropped. The idea of travelling through time and space seemed like the adventure of a lifetime, but she was not sure what excuse she would give to her family and friends. "If it's alright with the Doctor," she said.

"I don't see why not," he said. "But you'll need to behave. That means, no using those throwing knives for killing people, and none of that business with the metal bat."

"It's a deal," she said. "But I'll need to go home first to pack some things, make some excuses, and figure some things out. Can you come and get me at noon, November sixteenth, two thousand and twelve, in front of the Royal Ontario Museum? It'll give me an alibi."

"It sounds like a plan. So, I'll drop you off where we were before. Hopefully I'll land in the right place this time. If I don't it would just be embarrassing," the Doctor rambled.

Then he turned to Cass. "Where would you like to go?" he asked gently.

Cass thought for a moment. "If you don't mind, I would like to have a word with you. About what happened, I mean."

"Of course," the Doctor replied. "Just as soon as I drop these two off." He landed the TARDIS and flipped on the monitor. Dodge peered at the screen.

"Yep," he said. "Dublin, nineteen eighty-two. Just the time and place I needed." He waved goodbye and walked through the doors.

The Doctor flipped a few switches and pulled some levers on the console, flying the TARDIS to their next destination. The Doctor then turned the monitor back on and Zanna walked over to look at the screen. She nodded and walked out the doors. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said.

After Zanna left, the Doctor dematerialized the TARDIS and turned toward Cass. "Now, Cass," he began. "I know how you feel about the Time War and what my people had done, but just let me say that I'm sorry about what happened. And I'm sorry I couldn't help you all those years ago."

"I know," Cass said. "I guess I just need to get to know you before judging you."

"So, what do you want to do?" Epsilon questioned. "We can take you home if you want. Or we can take you for one trip, just for the sake of it, but if you're still uncomfortable with that, we'll take you home."

Cass frowned, thinking about the offer for a moment before making her decision. "I must be out of my mind. Alright, Doctor," she said. "One trip. Prove to me that you're one of the nice ones." 


	5. Chapter 5

Zanna patiently stood waiting for the TARDIS to arrive. The day before, she requested to be dropped off and then picked back up near the Royal Ontario Museum the next day. That way, she would have her belongings packed and an alibi to work with. When she heard the TARDIS land, she picked up the belongings she packed and headed over to where the sound came from. She stopped in front of the blue police box and looked around. When she was sure that no one was looking she opened one of the doors and walked inside.

"Hello," she called.

The Doctor turned away from the console to face her. "Oh," he exclaimed. "Hello. I see you've packed."

"Yeah," Zanna said. "I wanted to be prepared, y'know. Could be here for a long time."

"Alright then. Just head down the hallway and find a room," the Doctor said, directing his attention back to flying the TARDIS.

"Sure thing," Zanna exclaimed enthusiastically. She turned and headed through a door, nodding to Epsilon and Cass as she disappeared down the hallway.

The Doctor quickly circled the console, flipping switches, turning knobs, and pulling levers to his heart's content. Meanwhile, Cass was leaning on the railing and looking as if she was deep in thought. Epsilon shook her head when she recalled the Doctor introducing her to his TARDIS:

"You remember Cass, don't you, Old Girl?" he ventured. Suddenly, he frowned and his face turned a deep shade of pink.

"Oi! Watch your language!" he shouted. "Yes, I remember what happened, but now I'm trying to prove to her that I really _am _one of the nice ones. Oh, now come on, Sexy! Quit being rude!" After a few minutes of coaxing, reassuring, and stroking the console, he gave up.

Cass had remained silent ever since she joined them. Perhaps it was because she was coming to terms with her newfound freedom, or perhaps it was because she still resented the Time Lords deep down, and reserves of that resentment were beginning to show again; whatever the case, she needed alone time, and Epsilon decided to grant it to her.

"Cass," she ventured. "If you need some alone time, we could go and find the library. I was going to find my room anyway."

"No, thank you," Cass replied.

"Look," Epsilon said. "If you want to go home, we can take you right now. Nobody is forcing you to come with us. Just tell us where you live, and we'll take you there."

"No, it's just that...I've hated the Time Lords all my life, and then the Doctor tries to save me and I refuse and I die. Then there was that business with the Rani and I get stuck with you. And now here I am, with two members of a species that I'm supposed to despise."

"Then if all this is going on in your head, then why did you tell Zanna Sterling that you didn't hate us so much any more?" Epsilon challenged.

"I didn't want her to feel uneasy. I wanted her to trust me. It was perfectly clear back there that the Doctor was the only chance of us getting away from that horrid Rani. This is going to be difficult, Epsilon. Getting me to warm up to Gallifreyans isn't going to work overnight," Cass explained.

_Or over six months for that matter_, Epsilon thought to herself. "So do you want to come with us or not?" she asked, struggling to hold back her temper.

There was an awkward silence before Cass nodded. "I agreed to give the Doctor the benefit of the doubt, so I'm staying."

_She's not making any sense_, Epsilon thought with a scowl. _Does she hate us or not? Although, maybe I'm being too impatient. Maybe we need to give her more time._

Frustrated, she went to join the Doctor. "I don't know if this is a good idea, bringing her with us," she said. "She seems pretty torn about this."

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but then a wave of turbulence knocked them off their feet.

"What the hell was that?" Cass demanded.

"Ditto," Zanna remarked, entering the console room.

"I don't know," the Doctor said. He flicked the switch on the monitor and peered at the image on the screen. "Ooh, this looks interesting," he commented, beaming at the image.

"What?" Epsilon pressed, approaching the monitor to look at the image. On the screen was what appeared to be a dark corridor. "Where are we?" she asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" the Doctor said, raising his eyebrows. "We're on a ship. A sea ship, or an airship. Perhaps even a spaceship. Either way, we're on a ship, and by the looks of it, nobody had been on it for, oh, maybe about...I don't know, three years? Let's take a look. Girls, grab a torch, because we're exploring a ship!"

"But it could be dangerous," Cass protested. "It's probably been abandoned for a reason."

"That's one of the reasons I'm going to have a look," the Doctor said. "But perhaps the crew merely got bored and moved on. Happens to me all the time. _Or_...this ship isn't really abandoned after all. There could be something on this ship that either drove the crew away, or killed them. And there _is_ a chance that it has done this to _other_ crews on _other_ ships, and it could possibly move on to _more_ crews on _more_ ships if we don't stop it. _But_ there is still a chance that it could actually be friendly and the crew was just scared of it and left for that particular reason without realizing that it's _actually quite nice_. Right then. Time to have a look."

He and Epsilon each picked up a flashlight and exited the TARDIS. Zanna also grabbed a flashlight, shrugging to Cass on her way out. Cass hesitated for a moment before grabbing a flashlight as well and joining them in the corridor. The corridor was dark and cold. Puddles covered the ground because of the leaking pipes on the ceiling, and a quiet dripping sound and a smell of mildew filled the air. Epsilon was usually very brave and fearless, but at that time, she found the corridor that they were walking through to be very unsettling for some reason. Finally, they came to a doorway at the end of the corridor. The door was wide open, in fact, it was hanging off the bottom hinges.

"Looks like something very large tried to get out," Zanna said. "Something very large and very strong."

"Or in," Cass said, nodding towards their side of the door. Sure enough, the handle was broken, as if someone, or something, had given it a hard yank.

"Ah, but why would the door be bent like that," the Doctor questioned. "The door has to be at least seven feet tall, which would make the centre of gravity three and a half feet high, eight inches above the handle. If something very large were to grab the handle, the door would be hanging from the set of hinges at the top, so it must be something smaller, and yet very strong. But maybe, the thing that opened the door could be large, but in fact, opening the door while lying on the ground, rather than standing up."

"And by the looks of it, it was quite a struggle," Epsilon commented, running her fingers along a large claw mark on the corner of the door.

Suddenly, a large shape moved past them and fled down the corridor.

"What was that?" Zanna wondered aloud. "It looked like some kind of shadow."

"There's one way to find out," the Doctor said. "Let's follow it. Come on."


	6. Chapter 6

As they headed down the corridor, Zanna noticed that she had a throbbing headache. She raised her right hand to her face and began to massage the bridge of her nose. It had been getting worse ever since their encounter with the Rani. She was beginning to suspect that something might have happened while she was unconscious. She was beginning to remember certain things happening when she slipped in and out of consciousness. She could remember being strapped to a surgical table and given some kind of intravenous injection. That was all she could remember. She was beginning to wonder if she had also been experimented on like Epsilon, Cass, and Dodge. _Maybe when this is over, I'll talk to the Doctor about that,_ she thought to herself, massaging her temples.

Meanwhile, Epsilon was walking close to the Doctor and Cass. She could sense the tension between them. She Shivered. _Come on_, she thought. _Could somebody please say something? _Then,_ a_s if he sensed what she was thinking, the Doctor decided to speak up.

"So, Cass," he began. "How are you feeling so far?"

"I'm alright," Cass replied, shrugging. "I've been worse."

Suddenly, the group began to hear footsteps. "

"What was that?" the Doctor wondered, pointing his flashlight in the direction that the sound was coming from. He walked in the same direction and turned a corner. Epsilon headed after him, motioning for Zanna and Cass to follow. Just before they reached the corner, there was a great commotion and they heard the Doctor cry out, prompting them to turn the corner sharply to see what was going on. When they turned the corner, they saw the Doctor being hugged tightly by a man and a woman, both sporting ridiculously large grins and tacky, colourful clothing. When they noticed the girls emerging around the corner, they proceeded to give each of them the same treatment.

"Hello," the woman chirped. "How are you today?"

"Confused," Zanna answered bluntly.

"How did you get here?" Cass asked them, breaking away from the man, who still remained cheerful regardless.

"We're on a cruise ship, dearie," the woman answered, still grinning largely. "This is Deck Zero. The party's upstairs."

"We're all having a gay old time!" the man said.

Epsilon and the Doctor exchanged weary glances. She could tell that he noticed something was wrong. Something that had to do with the black shape that they were following only moments before.

"Why don't we go upstairs and meet everyone else, hmm?" the woman suggested. "We love it when we get visitors!"

"Oh, yes, of course," the Doctor said. "Let's go upstairs."

They followed the man and woman up five flights of stairs, finally stopping at the fifth deck. All of the lights were out. If they did not have their flashlights reflecting against the mirrors, the place would have been pitch black.

Zanna looked round and spotted the elevators. "Why couldn't we have taken the elevators instead of the stairs?" she asked.

"The power's out, honey," the woman said. "Nothing works around here."

"Then why are you so cheerful all the time?" Epsilon asked, raising her eyebrows. "Surely that must put a damper on things."

"We just are," the man said with a shrug. "Nothing could put a damper on anything!"

"Now, now, Epsilon," the Doctor said, feeling uneasy. "Don't insult their hospitality."

"Oh, that could never happen," the man said. "We're always happy."

"But why?" Cass pressed.

"Something came and removed all our negative emotions," the woman said.

"Could it have been that thing downstairs?" Zanna suggested.

The Doctor snapped his fingers and pointed at Zanna. "Yes," he confirmed. "It is possible. Because what kind of ship would have a monster living down where the engines are? Unless all cruise ships have monsters where the engines are and there's nothing to worry about, besides the power being out, and the creepy smiley people. But maybe it could be true that the creature is the type that feeds on negative emotions."

"So maybe what we need to do is do something to make the creature go away and then everyone would go back to normal," Zanna suggested.

"That could work," the Doctor confirmed. "But first things first, girls. We have a party to go to." He and Epsilon followed the man and woman down a hallway with Zanna and Cass trailing behind.

Zanna massaged the bridge of her nose, trying to get rid of the migraine that periodically came and went. She looked over and saw that Cass had her hand on her own forehead as if she had a migraine as well.

"You too, eh?" Zanna remarked.

Cass took her hand off of her forehead. "I just feel weird," she said. "Like something's inside my head."

"Why don't you tell the Doctor, then," Zanna suggested. "He might be able to help."

"Maybe," Cass replied, placing her hand back on her forehead and continuing to follow the Doctor and Epsilon.

Zanna stopped in her tracks. Her migraine was beginning to feel even worse than before. Her head throbbed. Suddenly, her vision clouded and she could very vaguely see a vision of a desolate wasteland with a city in the distance, overlapping what she could see in front of her. _What the hell_, she thought. Then the vision faded and she could see clearly in front of her again. _I'm going crazy_, she thought. _I must be completely out of my mind!_


	7. Chapter 7 (And an Author's Note)

As the Doctor and his companions walked, they could hear something following them. It seemed to slither along the ceiling like a snake. The shone their flashlights in its direction, but they saw nothing there. They continued to walk until they got to a room filled with tables and chairs. The room was dark, except for the daylight shining through the windows. There was also a staircase that wound downwards into a lower level.

Sitting at the tables and chairs were people dressed in tacky tourist outfits, cruise liner uniforms, and even coast guard uniforms. Like the man and woman, they also sported ridiculously large smiles. They immediately stood up to greet the newcomers.

"Ah, hello, everyone," the Doctor greeted, smiling at everyone. "I'm the Doctor. This is Epsilon, Cass, and Zanna. We're just wondering what's been going on here."

"We're very pleased to meet you all," a man in a coast guard uniform said. "Make yourselves at home. The power might be out, but we can still have a good time."

After at least an hour of interacting with the cheerful group, the Doctor and his companions left the room and wandered into the corridor.

"So what can we do about this?" Zanna questioned, still massaging the bridge of her nose.

The Doctor frowned. "You've been doing that a lot lately," he said.

"Doing what?" Zanna wondered, dumbfounded.

"Rubbing the bridge of your nose," Epsilon said. "You've been doing it ever since you came back to the TARDIS."

"I've been doing it since I left the _Rani's_ TARDIS," Zanna said. "Do you think she might have experimented on me or something while I was unconscious? I keep having these flashbacks of being strapped to a surgical table. It's weird. Do you think it's fatal? Oh, my God! I'm not gonna die, right?"

"First of all, I need you to slow down," the Doctor said. "I don't know what this is about, so this is something we'll need to look into."

Zanna nodded. "So, in the meantime, what are we going to do about the monster that paints smiley faces on people's souls? We're not gonna kill it, are we?"

"No!" the Doctor cried. "Of course we're not gonna kill it! Since when was violence ever the answer? We could always trap it and release it somewhere else where it can live without bothering people."

"You mean like what campground staff do with bears that become too much of a nuisance?" Zanna suggested.

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed. "But what can we use?"

Epsilon, who was listening in on the conversation, began to dig through her pockets to find something useful. _Surely there must be something useful in here that the Rani had forgotten to remove, _she thought._ Most of the things in my pockets were useless junk at the time, so they should still be in here._

She pulled out her sonic probe. _That might work, _she thought, nodding her head. She then pulled out a chain with a white point star diamond attached to it – _no_; then a Gallifreyan music player – _no_;a pocket watch – _no_; a notebook and pen – _no_; a book of Gallifreyan poetry – _no. Come on, pockets, _she thought. _For me?_

Finally, she pulled out a small cube with a small lens attached to it. It was the trapping module that her she had built years before. _Here we go, _she thought. Then she frowned. _Was the Rani even trying back then,_ she wondered. _But then again, it _was_ just a bunch of useless junk. And devices wouldn't work inside the force field. None of this would have helped me escape. All the same, this is just too simple._

"We can use this," she suggested, holding out the cube. "It's a device I built during the Time War that's meant to trap monsters, entities, you name it."

"And you used it before?" the Doctor asked.

"As a matter of fact, I have. I managed to trap at least four or five Daleks before it…..uhh…broke…" Epsilon admitted, remembering that it shorted out after she trapped the fifth Dalek. Her face turned a bright shade of pink.

"Will you be able to fix it?" the Doctor asked.

Epsilon's expression brightened. "I'll see what I can do," she said. She took out her sonic probe and began her work.

"Alright then," the Doctor said, clapping his hands together. "You do that. In the meantime, I'm going to fix the ship's engines. Anyone going to volunteer to assist me?"

Zanna raised her hand. "I have some experience with engineering," she suggested. "I think I'll be able to help out."

Cass hesitated for a moment and then raised her hand. "I have engineering experience too, so I can also be of assistance," she said.

"Good," the Doctor said. "Come on." Then he turned and began to make his way back to the staircase with Zanna and Cass following behind. Epsilon then looked up from what she was doing and began to follow them as well, carrying the trapping module and her sonic probe.

When they got to the engine room, the Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and held it out like a flashlight, bathing the entire room in an eerie green light. They approached the engines and checked them for signs of damage.

"This is weird," Zanna said. "The engines aren't working, but they look perfectly fine. There's absolutely no sign of there being any damage."

"Which proves that the creature could be the one controlling it," the Doctor concluded. "Now how would it go about doing that? It's got the engines and the power. Of course it could be using some kind of—"

"Psychic powers?" Zanna interrupted.

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed. "It can control the power and the engines from a different part of the ship, so that must be it. Now how do we sever the connection?"

"Maybe it'll be severed once I fix the trapping module," Epsilon suggested working away at the device with her sonic probe. "I'll install some new software for that right away."

"What about the people?" Cass wondered. "Will they be okay?"

"Hopefully," the Doctor said.

"Aren't you going to tell him about that stuff that's been going on?" Zanna suggested.

"What stuff?" the Doctor asked.

Cass frowned. "I think the creature has gotten into my head," she concluded. "I can feel it. It's twisting my emotions."

"How?" Epsilon asked. "Then tell me. How do you feel about the Time Lords?"

"I don't know anymore," Cass admitted. "You and the Doctor are different from the others I've encountered, so it's hard to say. I mean, could there be more like you?"

"Then what about Rassilon?" the Doctor asked. "He and his followers were the ones who ruined your life. Don't you hate him?"

"No," Cass answered.

Epsilon raised her eyebrows. "What about the Rani? She locked you up with me for six months and did experiments on you. Surely you must detest her for treating you like that."

"I don't," Cass replied. "Even though I have every reason to hate both her and Rassilon."

"Then I'm sorry," Epsilon said. "But it's got you. If you can feel it in your head now and it's already twisting your thoughts, then the only thing we can do is get the device working and hope for the best. And I think I've just about got it." She held up the cube and grinned triumphantly. "Now to find the creature," she announced.

_AN: This is a short chapter, so I'll take this opportunity to write an author's note. I will address two things:_

_Why did I put Cass in this story? Well, I watched the minisode, "Night of the Doctor" and I was most displeased at Moffat's ability to kill people off over a five-minute period. And she never got a chance to undergo any character development either, so I decided to give her a second chance. _

_Reviews: Please can I get some more reviews? I'd like to know whether or not my story is any good. But if you have anything negative to say about my work, please try to include something constructive in your constructive criticism, and get the point across without flaming. If you flame, I will have to do something….and I don't know what that is because I've never been flamed before…thanks. _


	8. Chapter 8 (And Another Author's Note)

The Doctor and his companion wandered the hallways on Deck Zero, searching for the creature in order to break its connections to the power, engines, and the other people on the ship. At one point, they spotted the creature clinging to a wall. Epsilon quickly activated the trapping module. But it was too late. The creature clawed its way across the ceiling and disappeared around a corner.

"Dammit, that thing's fast!" Zanna exclaimed.

"I just thought of something," Cass said. "Do you think we could trap it by luring it into a room and locking the door?" She did not seem frustrated at all, and Epsilon was not sure whether she was just being patient or if the creature had removed all her hatred and moved on to impatience.

"It's worth a try," Zanna agreed. "I can provoke it and lead it into a room."

"But no violence," the Doctor insisted.

"No violence," Zanna promised.

"Then I guess the Doctor and I will be waiting in the room for it?" Epsilon suggested, attempting to steer the conversation back to their objective.

"I'll wait by the door and hold it open," Cass suggested. "Then I'll lock it in."

"Right then," the Doctor exclaimed enthusiastically, clapping his hands together. "Let's catch ourselves a monster."

While the others waited, Zanna went to entice the creature like she promised. _Okay, so no throwing knives, _she thought. _I promised the Doctor "no violence," so the knives are out of the question…..unless, of course, I miss on purpose. No. I promised no violence. Besides, I might accidentally hit it. Now, what can I use instead?_ She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small handful of marbles. _Here we go._

As she walked, she began to feel a sensation of something latching onto the back of her neck. She reached up and felt it with her hand. Nothing there. But she could feel it. _I'm not afraid,_ she thought. She frowned. _I'm not afraid? But why? I should be. I should at least be a bit nervous. My heart's not pounding. My mind isn't racing. I'm completely calm. It's as if my fear was completely removed. _Her heart sank. _It's got me, _she thought.

"Alright, now I see where you went wrong," the Doctor said, examining the trapping module. "You forgot to connect the circuits properly."

"Well how should I know?" Epsilon demanded. "I'm not an expert on technology."

"But you built this," the Doctor pointed out, holding up the trapping module.

"Well, I guess I'm not _that_ bad," Epsilon admitted. "But I would probably have been better at it if I had finished my education, that is, if I was able to finish my education after the Academy was destroyed during the…." She stopped suddenly when she noticed that the Doctor's facial expression changed from one of good-natured cheerfulness, to one of deep sorrow.

"I'm sorry," she said when she realized that the Time War may have still been a risky topic to mention, especially in front of someone like the Doctor.

"So, as I was saying, the circuits. Those would need a bit of work. Nothing I can't fix," the Doctor said, changing the subject. He took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the device. "There we go," the Doctor exclaimed when he was finished.

"Thanks. Now to get this thing up and running," Epsilon said, smiling. "Hey, Cass, are you doing okay?"

"Sure," Cass remarked sarcastically. "Everything's just fantastic."

Epsilon rolled her eyes. "Then I guess the creature hasn't moved on to sarcasm yet," she said, looking at the ground. Then she looked up again. "Just don't give up okay? This'll work. Just wait and see. "

"I hope you're right," Cass said.

"Just keep hanging on," the Doctor said. "As long as you're hanging on, it'll take longer for the creature to completely influence your thoughts."

"I am," Cass said. "Believe me, I am."

Epsilon nodded. "Any sign of Zanna?" she wondered, changing the subject.

"Yeah," Cass said. "She's coming."

Epsilon looked down the hall and saw Zanna frantically running and giggling as the creature chased her. She burst into the room and threw her arms around Epsilon.

"That was great!" Zanna shouted enthusiastically. "What a rush!"

"You're looking pretty cheerful," Epsilon remarked.

"Yeah," Zanna said. "It's got me."

"Then we'll have to work quickly," the Doctor said. "Here it comes."

The creature flew into the room and lunged at Zanna, only to be repelled when the Doctor activated his sonic screwdriver, holding it back. Cass quickly pulled the door shut with a loud "slam," trapping them inside. Epsilon flicked the switch on the trapping module and the creature was immediately sucked into the device.

"Got it," Epsilon said, turning the device off.

"Right then," the Doctor said, placing his sonic screwdriver back into his jacket's inside pocket. "So now all we need to do is release it where it won't do any more damage." Then he turned to Zanna and Cass. "How about you two?" he asked. "Can you still feel its influence?"

Zanna and Cass shook their heads. "It's gone," Cass said. "It's as if it was never even there."

"Same here," Zanna said, nodding.

A few minutes later, they made sure the engines were fixed and the power was back on before heading back up to where everyone else was waiting. Some of the people looked puzzled, while others were massaging their faces. When they saw the Doctor and his companions, they quickly approached them and bombarded them with questions about what happened.

"It's all been sorted now," the Doctor said. "The power's back on and the engines are up and running. You'll have no problem getting everyone home now."

"Right," the captain said, shaking hands with the Doctor. "Thanks."

The Doctor and his companions said their goodbyes to everyone and headed back to the TARDIS.

"Now then," the Doctor announced, checking the databanks once they were all inside. "Time to figure out where to release the creature. If I could find out what planet it's from." He stared at the monitor for a few minutes before finally finding the information he needed.

"Oh, it's an Empathic Majeeran from the planet Argonia!" he exclaimed. "I've never been to Argonia before. I wonder if the locals are friendly. I'd love to meet the locals."

"It sounds lovely, but don't you think Cass would like to go home now?" Epsilon prompted.

The Doctor turned to Cass. "What do you think?" he asked. "Would you like to go home, or one last hurrah?"

Cass thought for a moment before shrugging. "We all had a part in catching it, so we should all release it," she said. "So, I'm coming with you."

"Oh, good," the Doctor said enthusiastically pulling a lever on the console and flicking a few switches. "Then it's settled. Next stop: Argonia."

_AN: Alright! Second adventure: finished; next stop: Argonia! Woo-hoo! So now I would like to say thank you to everyone who has read my story so far, favourited my story so far, and followed me so far. Thank you all so much! Also, I'm thinking of doing a prequel about what happened to Epsilon before she joined the Doctor. I feel that there's a lot that needs to be cleared up about her past. Anyway, thanks again for your support, and I will have chapter 9 ready soon._

_Eureka out! :3_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Let's promise that we'll never speak of this again!" the Doctor exclaimed after he and his companions stormed into the console room. He adjusted his soggy bowtie and removed his jacket, which was soaking wet.

"That will not be a problem," Cass grumbled, wringing out her soaking wet hair.

"That was _not_ Argonia out there!" Epsilon hissed, dripping with water. "And those locals are _not_ the type I would like to meet again!"

The Doctor flipped a number of switches and pulled a lever, and immediately, the TARDIS took off.

"Has Argonia always been this hard to find?" Epsilon asked.

"Well, luckily we'll be able to find that out when we get there," the Doctor said. "I was actually able to find someone kind enough to give me the coordinates."

"When did you manage that?" Epsilon demanded.

The Doctor grinned and turned back to the console.

"Guess he's not gonna tell us," Zanna whispered to Epsilon, running her fingers through her long black hair.

"It's not polite to whisper," the Doctor said.

The TARDIS landed with the usual whooshing sound it usually made. The Doctor opened the door and peered out. "Ah, good. Argonia. At last. Oh, and it's nice out too," he said. He walked out the door and then poked his head back inside. "Well, come on then," he insisted.

Cass followed him outside, but Zanna and Epsilon stayed behind for a few moments.

"Did you get to talk to the Doctor about what was happening with the migraines, the dizziness, the nosebleeds, and that strange vision you had?" Epsilon wondered.

Zanna nodded. "Yeah," she confirmed. "But he just confirmed that I wasn't hallucinating, and he didn't tell me anything else. He knows what's really going on and he isn't telling–" suddenly she stopped and lowered her head as if she was listening intently to someone speaking.

"Zanna," Epsilon prompted.

"Shhhh!" Zanna shushed her.

"Zanna!" Epsilon shouted.

"What?" Zanna demanded.

"What were you listening to just now?" the Doctor asked, startling the girls. He had come back into the console room to ask them what was taking them so long. The girls relaxed.

"Remember the vision I told you about?" Zanna asked. "The one I thought was a hallucination?"

"You're having another one?" the Doctor guessed. "What is it?"

"I can hear voices," Zanna said. "I don't know what they're saying, but I could make out what sounded like three people talking, one man and two women. What does it mean?"

The Doctor thought for a moment. "It means that we need to look into where it's coming from," he said.

"How do you know it's not a hallucination?" Zanna asked.

"I just know," the Doctor said. "Now come on. We have a Majeeran to release."

Zanna scowled. _Why isn't he telling me anything, _she wondered. _I'm the one going through this crap. He's hiding something and I want to find out what it is._ She followed the Doctor and Epsilon outside, still scowling. But when she saw what was outside, her facial expression changed. Her jaw dropped in amazement. In front of her was a large city consisting of shining chrome structures. There were large buildings in Toronto, but the structures in the city that she was looking at were far more impressive. Surrounding the city was a vast, dense forest.

"So, I'm guessing that we'll be releasing it in the forest?" Epsilon guessed.

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed.

They headed into the forest, where Epsilon activated the trapping module. Immediately the Majeeran appeared in front of them and then darted out of sight.

"That's all?" Zanna wondered.

"I guess so," Epsilon said, putting the device away.

Meanwhile, the Doctor was inspecting a nearby tree and scanning it with his sonic screwdriver. "No, I'd rather have a look around," he said. "You know. Explore, meet the locals. And there's something else. Something over past this ledge." The ledge he was talking about was at least ten feet high, and about fifty feet away stood a small structure.

As they began to make their way down the ledge, Zanna could hear rustling in some nearby bushes. The Doctor stopped and looked around.

"You hear that too?" Zanna asked.

"Shh!" the Doctor shushed, holding up his index finger.

"There's rustling in those –"

"Shhhhhhhh!"

"But what if –"

The Doctor pressed his index finger against Zanna's lips. "Be quiet," he whispered.

They listened in silence for a few minutes before continuing towards the structure.

"Oh, hell no!" Epsilon exclaimed, running over to the structure. "It can't be!"

"What is it?" Zanna wondered.

"It's a TARDIS," Cass replied, just as horrified as Epsilon.

"The Rani's TARDIS to be exact," the Doctor confirmed. "And by the looks of it, it's been abandoned."

"But why?" Epsilon questioned. "Is it dead?"

"It probably is," the Doctor said. "Why else would she leave it like this?" He stepped forward and reached for the door. Immediately, he was sent backwards by a bolt of energy and slammed into a nearby tree. "No, I take that back!" he exclaimed. "It's definitely not dead!"

"What the hell was that?" Zanna shouted.

"A defense mechanism," the Doctor answered, standing up and flexing his back. "Something she designed to keep people from touching it. Impossible to detect. Well, at least until you trigger it. Invisible and completely silent. It doesn't even give off any sort of energy. Now why would she activate it if she abandoned it? The answer is pretty simple. She did not, in fact, abandon it. She's actually hiding it here and she installed this defense mechanism so that the locals stay away from it."

"What locals?" Zanna asked.

"The ones who camouflaged themselves against the trees."


	10. Chapter 10

The Doctor and his companions watched as the locals made themselves visible and began to approach the travelers. There were four of them altogether, two males and two females. Their movements were very light, similar to a cat creeping across a floor. They had pale skin, but they also had striped markings on their faces and bodies. They also had large, pointy ears; cat-like noses; bushy, black hair; round eyes, and long tails that seemed to hover just above the ground. They were all wearing tight, black clothing, along with black tunics and leather boots. They did not look particularly hostile, but they still seemed cautious.

"Oh, hello there," the Doctor said cheerfully, grinning widely at them.

The youngest male and the oldest female glanced at each other. The youngest female cleared her throat.

"You should not be going near that," she said. "The Forest People say that the Witch's Box is cursed."

"Witch's Box?" the Doctor echoed, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, the Forest People have their silly superstitions," the oldest female said. "It is not cursed. It is merely dangerous."

"Dangerous?" the Doctor echoed. "How?"

The oldest male turned and glared at him. "Never mind that," he said. "Let's get out of here. Come on."

The Doctor and his companions soon found themselves following the group to a tunnel system beneath a large city.

"Are you sure we can trust them?" Cass whispered to the Doctor.

"I'm pretty sure we can," the Doctor told her. "They don't seem hostile, and it doesn't look like they have any weapons."

"How do you know?" Cass asked him.

"Trust me," the Doctor insisted.

"I'll try," Cass grumbled.

Meanwhile, the locals were having the same discussion amongst themselves.

"But, Varell, what if they're just as bad as the witch?" the youngest female hissed.

"I understand why you're nervous, Keet. We all are, but these people seem to know about her, and I feel that they can help us," Varell, the oldest male, explained quietly. "None of us have heard from Zagliss and we need all the help we can get."

The oldest female lashed her tail. "But to be honest, I don't like the idea of getting help from people we don't even know," she whispered.

"Yes, I understand that, Chid, we need to be optimistic for Zagliss' sake," the younger male said. "And besides, who are we to judge them before we even know them?"

"I guess you're right, Tavric," Chid said. "And besides, we're Corrians, and what is our most valued trait?"

"Our hospitality," Keet answered.

"Good," Varell said. "Then it's settled. It'll be innocent until proven guilty."

Without another word, they continued walking and approached a series of small vertical tunnels with ladders running through them. The Corrians approached the third one on the right and motioned for the travelers to follow before quickly darting up the ladder with ease. The Doctor watched them, grinning widely, before climbing up after them with Epsilon, Cass and Zanna following behind him. After climbing at least thirty feet, they exited through a small door and were half-lifted and half-dragged by the Corrians into a very small apartment. Each wall was eight feet in both width and height. Two of the walls had four sliding doors that opened to reveal small beds, just big enough to fit one person. On a third wall, there were two doors which the travelers guessed would lead to a washroom and a closet. Finally, against the last wall, there was a food dispenser and a small dining area with a radio embedded in the wall, just above the table. At the table sat another female Corrian. She looked like she was at least a few years older than Varell. She stood up, holding her hand against her bulging abdomen.

"This is Lexine," Varell said. "She's our older sister."

"Ah. Nice to meet you," the Doctor said cheerfully, shaking Lexine's hand. Lexine smiled nervously.

"She looks as if she's ready to pop," Epsilon remarked, raising her eyebrows.

"Epsilon, that was rude," Cass scolded.

"No, it's alright," Lexine said. "The eggs are just about ready to come out."

"Eggs?" Zanna echoed. _Too much information_, she thought to herself.

"It's how Corrians reproduce," Varell said.

"That's weird," Zanna said.

"Think of it from their perspective," the Doctor pointed out. "They might think that the way humans reproduce is weird."

Zanna nodded, looking ashamed at the comment she made.

"So, who are you then?" Lexine asked.

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Epsilon, Cass and Zanna," the Doctor said, introducing himself and his companions.

Lexine smiled. "Pleased to meet you," she said. "Well, Varell had also introduced me, and this is Chid, Tavric, and Keet. We also have a human living with us, but he's working in the Inner City today. They won't be back until later this evening."

"Ah, lovely," the Doctor said. "Although, I've already heard your names while you were talking on the way over here."

"You have?" Chid exclaimed, flinching.

"Yes, _we _have," Epsilon (who had remained silent throughout their walk and was listening in on both conversations) said, grinning wildly and glancing sideways at the Doctor.

The Doctor quickly glanced back at her and then continued. "So," he ventured. "Tell me about Zagliss."

Varell and Lexine exchanged glances before Lexine began to explain. "Zagliss is our sister. She's younger than me and Lexine, and older than Chid, Tavric and Keet. The last time we saw her, we were in the forest. Zagliss got too close to the Witch's Box and disappeared. We haven't seen her since."

"Have you gone back to investigate?" Zanna asked.

"Yes, we have," Tavric confirmed. "Several times, to be exact."

"And how long was she gone?" the Doctor asked.

"About a month," Keet said, darting onto one of the beds and turning back towards them.

"So she was missing for a month, and you've checked every possibility?" Cass questioned.

The Corrians looked at one another. The younger ones seemed to be prompting Varell and Lexine to answer Cass' question. Varell finally spoke up. "We've checked most of the possibilities, but we haven't gone near the box. Chid and I were too afraid to go near it and we wouldn't let Keet or Tavric near it either. It just feels wrong."

"Oh, okay, okay," the Doctor retorted. "Your sister's missing, but you never bothered to give a thorough investigation because something didn't feel right. Oh, I'd love to go missing and have people too _petrified_ to bother rescuing me. Your sister could be dead by now, but you won't know that, because you're too busy gaping at the box rather than investigating it."

"Doctor," Epsilon hissed in an attempt to get his attention. "Sepulchasm!"

Exasperated, the Doctor turned to Epsilon. "_That's_ the word you're using when you think I'm about to lose my temper?" he asked. "You didn't tell me you were going to say_ that_!"

Epsilon shrugged. "I told you that you'd know what the codeword is when I say it. It seemed rather fitting to pick 'sepulchasm' because you losing your temper is like the Sepulchasm board splitting in half during a game. And your temper had really gotten us into trouble a few times. Need I mention that incident we had with Napoleon Bonaparte? And the Space Mafia?"

"Alright, alright," the Doctor said. Then he turned back to the Corrians, who found the exchange between him and Epsilon to be rather amusing. "So, there's one more place to investigate, eh? And that's the so-called 'Witch's Box.' Looks like we're going to have to go back into the forest."

Suddenly, the hatch opened, prompting everyone to see who was coming into the apartment. It was Dodge. He seemed tired and he looked sweaty, as if he had been working all day.

"You're back early," Lexine remarked, grinning.


	11. Chapter 11

Zanna and Epsilon looked over at Dodge, who was talking to the Doctor at the moment. The last time they saw him, they had just left the Rani's TARDIS and Dodge had wanted to go back home to Dublin in the year of nineteen eighty-two. Then after a few adventures without him, they traveled to the planet Argonia to learn that Dodge had since left Ireland and was having his own adventures with another time traveler who called himself Fender. When they had gotten to Argonia, Dodge discovered that the Rani had escaped from the Time Vortex and was living somewhere on the planet. When he found that out, he managed to talk Fender into leaving him there, because he did not want his friend to get involved. Since then, he had moved in with the Corrians. Zanna and Epsilon listened in on his conversation with the Doctor and then moved over to the sitting area.

"Well, I guess Dodge isn't living in Ireland during the nineteen-eighties anymore," Zanna said.

"How did you know?" Epsilon asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

"Just a wild guess," Zanna remarked facetiously.

"And a pretty good one at that," Epsilon commented.

They both laughed.

"So I guess the Rani pulled a fast one on us," Zanna said, her smile fading.

"And your guess is correct," Epsilon retorted. "I just hope that we can do something about her once and for all."

"Ditto," Zanna said.

"And I just can't help but wonder what she's up to this time," Epsilon said; "And what we'll have to do in order to stop her."

"I know," Zanna said. "And I don't exactly like the idea of seeing her again."

The Doctor stood up. "Alright, so now we're going to go back and investigate," he announced.

"You have a plan?" Varell wondered.

"Well, no – maybe – it's a work in progress," the Doctor answered. "Epsilon, Cass, Zanna, with me. The rest of you can figure yourselves out."

"We already spoke about this, so I'm coming," Dodge said.

"Us too," Varell said. "Except for Lexine and Keet. You two need to stay."

"Why?" Keet challenged him. "Because we're girls?"

"No," Varell answered simply. "It's because she's pregnant, and you're too young."

Keet turned away from her brother and pouted. "I never get to do anything," she moaned.

"With that attitude, how do you expect us to treat you like a grown up?" Varell asked, folding his arms. Keet ignored him.

"Right then," the Doctor said, clapping his hands together. "Come on."

Meanwhile, far into the heart of the city, the Rani was working on a series of computers, watching footage and diagrams of Corrians who lived in different areas. The first set depicted the Forest People. They looked lean and muscular with prominent markings and stingers on the ends of their tails. The next set depicted the Outsiders. They had less prominent markings, less muscular bodies, and tails without stingers. The next set showed the Underground People. They looked like the Outsiders, except with china-white skin and grey markings, which was caused by living underground for several generations. The next set showed the Insiders, who had pale skin, no markings, and shorter tails. The final set showed the Centre People, who had unhealthy-looking bodies, blotchy skin and short tails.

"Remarkable," the Rani said, studying each set. "De-evolution progresses as they move farther into the city." She smirked, remembering the attack she created on the humans who formerly inhabited the city, by sabotaging the Outsiders' weaponry, making it look like they were the ones attacking. She could never have provoked them into attacking the humans on their own. She found them to be far too docile, especially when they had no reason to attack. She turned towards a monitor showing the evolution of Corrian biology. First, it showed a Corrian that looked just like the Insiders, only for the image to evolve into what looked like an Outsider, and then into what looked like a member of the Forest people. Then the image on the monitor devolved back and then continued, changing into one of the Centre people. It then devolved even farther into what looked like a very unhealthy looking human.

"Ma'am," a voice called. A female Corrian stepped forward. "Ma'am," she repeated.

The Rani sighed. "What is it, Zagliss?" she demanded.

"I've caught some footage of some people outside of your machine," Zagliss said, anxiously flicking her tail.

"Show me," the Rani said.

Zagliss nodded, producing a memory stick and inserting it into a computer's monitor. The Rani watched as the footage played. When it finished playing, she slammed her fist against the top of the monitor in frustration. "Oh, why are _they_ here?" she grumbled. "Why the hell are they here?"

"Who is that?" Zagliss asked.

"Some old annoyances," the Rani grumbled.

Back at the "Witch's Box," the Doctor, his companions, and the Corrians had been investigation what could have been the cause of Zagliss' disappearance. After a few minutes of scanning the Rani's TARDIS, the Doctor noticed something buried in the ground.

"A-_ha!_" he exclaimed, uncovering the device and scanning it with his sonic screwdriver. He slammed his hand onto the device. There was a flash of blinding light and the Doctor disappeared.

"What just happened?" Zanna wondered.

"He must have teleported," Cass said. "This is probably some kind of teleportation device."

Suddenly, everyone was distracted by the sound of someone approaching them. They looked towards the sound and saw a young man running towards them. He had curly, brown hair, hazel eyes, and wore a pair of jeans, leather boots, and a black, leather jacket.

Dodge smacked the palm of his hand against his forehead. "What is he doing here?" he muttered.

The young man skidded to a halt in front of the group. "Did you guys see that?" he exclaimed. "That guy just vanished into Bolivia!"

"The Doctor's in Bolivia?" Zanna questioned.

"What? No!" the young man exclaimed.

"I think the word you're looking for is _'oblivion,'_" Dodge corrected. "You just can't stop thinking about your girlfriend, can you, Fender?"

"I miss her, okay?" Fender admitted. "I haven't seen her for a month."

"And he didn't vanish into oblivion," Epsilon pointed out. "He teleported."

"His girlfriend's from Bolivia?" Zanna questioned.

"Of course," Fender answered. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing," Zanna said.

"And by the way, why are you here?" Dodge demanded.

"I thought you would have needed some help," Fender said.

"All right, this is going nowhere!" Cass exclaimed. Then she gestured towards Fender. "Who is this anyway?" she asked.

"Guys, this is Fender," Dodge said. "The friend I told you about."

"Yo," Fender said.

Suddenly, there was another flash of blinding light, and the Doctor reappeared. "Well, come on, you lot!" he exclaimed. "Are you coming?"

"Where?" Cass questioned.

"Wherever this leads," the Doctor answered. "I'm curious as to what will happen."

_AN: So this was Chapter 11. There's a few things I'd like to address. _

_The first one is Epsilon's codeword. "Sepulchasm" is a Gallifreyan board game where the players take turns moving their pieces until the board game cracks open. When that happens, the players must shout "Sepulchasm" and use their psychic powers to hover the pieces over the board to keep them from falling into the crack. The game was mentioned in the New Adventures novel, "Lungbarrow," written by Marc Platt (All rights go to Virgin Books). This is what Epsilon was talking about when she was discussing the codeword with the Doctor. Also, I really don't expect the codeword to successful. It's like the swear jar. You use it for a while, but then you don't really see the point and you abandon it._ _And to be honest, I don't really think that the Doctor was really going to lose his temper at that point. Epsilon was just being a bit too careful. And he did have a point, to be honest. And by the way, those incidents involving Catherine the Great and the Space Mafia? I'll just leave what really happened to the imagination, along with all the other "Noodle Incidents."_

_The second one is my choice of alien. The Corrians are something I had in my head since I was about twelve or thirteen years old. They went through quite a few do-overs before I finally had what I wanted. I originally wanted them to be shape-shifters, but I didn't see the point in it, considering that they're also supposed to be stealthy. I just gave them the ability to camouflage themselves instead. It seemed to fit better._

_The third one is Dodge coming back. I always intended for him to come back, I just didn't know when. I hope you enjoy his presence, and I will give more detail about how he ended up living with the Corrians later on._


	12. Chapter 12

"Where's Kida?" the Rani asked, turning to Zagliss.

"Gone?" Zagliss guessed.

"Where?" the Rani demanded.

"I don't know," Zagliss said, shrugging.

The Rani sighed. "Great," she hissed. "Not only do I have to worry about the Doctor, I also have to worry about that ridiculous reptile." She grabbed Zagliss by the scruff of her neck and shoved her forward. "Find her," she commanded.

"Yes, Ma'am," Zagliss said, turning and running down a corridor.

Meanwhile, it was made perfectly clear that the teleport did not, in fact, send the Doctor and the others to Bolivia, but to the heart of the city.

Cass looked around at the series of corridors before turning to the Doctor.

"Perhaps we should split up," she suggested. "People will be more likely to come looking if we stay in a large group."

"Right," the Doctor agreed. "Divide and conquer. Well, maybe not conquer. At least not if we can talk a bit of sense into the Rani this time around."

"Keyword being _if_," Epsilon pointed out.

"Right," the Doctor said, ignoring Epsilon's comment. "Who will be going with who?"

"I can go and take care of the goons if there are any around," Zanna said, adjusting her backpack. "Who's with me?"

"I'll go with you," Dodge said, seeming interested in the idea.

"Same," Fender agreed.

The Doctor watched as the three of them gathered together and began to head down the nearest corridor. "No killing," he warned.

"Gotcha," Zanna said, giving him the thumbs up.

The Corrians watched them leave and then turned back towards the Doctor.

"We'll go and look for Zagliss," Chid said. Then she turned and walked down the next corridor with Tavric and Varell following behind her.

The Doctor watched them leave and then turned to Epsilon and Cass. "Right then," he said. "I guess we'll go and look for the Rani."

Meanwhile, Kida was heading through the same corridors. She thought about the day she left her colony to join the Rani. Eldane had recently appointed her as the colony's protector. He needed to choose someone who was not as willing to start a war. Someone who could help the Silurians cooperate with the humans. While she was chosen because she _was_ less impulsive and war-hungry, she hated thinking about the other reason she was chosen. Restac and Alaya were her older sisters. Malokeh was her friend. She was not even there when they died. She wanted to escape from her grief and her new responsibilities, so she joined the Rani and travelled in her vessel. Kida regretted doing that. Her people were counting on her and she turned her back on them, agreeing to travel with someone she did not even like.

And the other people who went with them were just as bad. Zagliss was an opportunist. She turned her back on her own family to reach her own selfish ends. While Kida was willing to admit that she was wrong to leave the colony behind, Zagliss had absolutely no remorse at all. The other person to travel with them was a human named Wesley Creed. Of the three humans she has met, she found Wesley to be the most arrogant, spoiled, and entitled person alive. From what he told her, he was well-known amongst the humans and had been that way since the age of twelve. _Of course_, she thought. _Give a child fame and money and he'll turn out just fine._ And even though he was famous for his music, she had never heard him sing.

She continued creeping down one of the corridors before slinking over to a wall and crouching close to the ground when she heard someone coming. She quickly grabbed her mask and put it on. She did not have any weapons, but would use the stinger on the tip of her tongue if she was threatened. She could hear footsteps. _Alright, _she thought, determining the number of people approaching by listening to the pattern of their footsteps. _So there are three of them. _She listened to the sound coming from the footsteps. _Apes_, she concluded. The humans began to speak. Judging by their voices, Kida could tell that the humans were two males and one female. They sounded young.

"Okay," one of the males said. "We're officially lost."

"How do you know that?" another male with a lilting accent said. "We've never been down here before."

"Shhhhh!" the female shushed. "There's someone around this corner."

"How do you know that?" the first male asked.

"I don't know," the female said, sounding nervous. "I just feel a sort of presence. Stuff like this has been happening for a while."

"What, like weird, psychic stuff?" the first male wondered.

"Either that or I'm going crazy," the female said.

Kida retreated into the shadows as the humans rounded the corner. The first male was tall with hazel eyes and curly, brown hair. The second male had green eyes and dark hair, and the female had green eyes and black hair that was tied back into a ponytail. _Apes,_ Kida concluded. _But what are they doing here? _The first male looked off to the right, while the others shone their flashlights in Kida's direction. Kida flinched.

"Good lord," the second male said.

"What are you?" the female asked.

Kida tensed. "I am the last of my species," she said. Her heart sank at how unconvincing the tone of her voice sounded.

"Are you really?" the female asked, her voice full of doubt. "What are you?" she asked again after several seconds of silence. "Where are you from?"

Kida sighed. "I am a Silurian from the planet Earth," she answered.

"We're from Earth too," the female said, smiling. "Small world, eh?"

"What's your business here?" Kida questioned.

"One of the locals on this planet has disappeared," the female said. "We're assuming that she's being held hostage. Her name is Zagliss. Three of her siblings are also looking for her, along with our friends."

Kida narrowed her eyes. She could tell from the tone of the female's voice that she was telling the truth, but there was still a chance that they were a threat. "Lay down your weapons," she said.

"We can do that," the female said. "As long as you take off the mask. I'd like to take a good look at who I'm talking to."

Without another word, she reached into the bag strapped behind her back, pulling out a large, metal club and dropping it to the ground. She then reached into her jacket, pulled out a few small knives and dropped them to the ground as well. The first male took out a small firearm and a switchblade and dropped them to the ground. The second male turned his pockets inside out to show that he was unarmed.

Kida looked down at the small knives that were in the female's possession. "Throwing knives," she said. "Not very effective for killing people. And these ones aren't even designed for combat. They're designed for sport."

"I don't intend to kill people," the female said. "As for the bat, I usually aim below the neck."

"She's a girl, so…," the first male said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the female asked defensively.

"Nothing," the male quickly said.

"The female rolled her eyed and turned back towards Kida. "We did what you wanted us to do, so now it's your turn," she said. "The mask."

Kida slowly reached up and pulled off the mask, revealing her scaly, green features. The female and second male tried not to gawk, while the first male did exactly so.

"Wow," he remarked. "She's a lizard lady."

"Thanks for pointing that out," the female hissed.

"Sorry about Fender," the second male said. "It's just that we haven't seen many people like you before."

"And I haven't seen many evolved apes before either," Kida retorted. She relaxed a bit and decided to change the subject. "My name is Kida, by the way. What are your names?"

"I'm Zanna," the female said.

"Fender," the first male said, waving.

"Dodge," the second male said. "Nice to meet you."

Zanna frowned. "Sorry to cut this short, but we need to go and help the others," she said. "Nice meeting you, Kida. Come on, guys."

Zanna, Fender, and Dodge turned to leave.

"Wait," Kida said. "I can help you."

The humans turned and looked in her direction.

"I know where the Rani is hiding," Kida said. "And I know where Zagliss is."

"Sounds like a plan," Zanna said. Dodge nodded in agreement.

"Hold on, you guys," Fender said. "Let's huddle for a moment."

The humans huddled together.

"You guys don't honestly think we should trust her, do you?" Fender hissed.

"Why not?" Zanna whispered. "I want to see where this is going."

"Me too," Dodge agreed. "I'm curious."

Fender sighed. "Alright," he whispered. "Let's go."

The humans turned back towards Kida and smiled. "Okay," Zanna said. "Let's do this thing. But first, we need look for our friends."

Kida grinned. _And I thought that today would be uneventful_, she thought. _The Rani's not going to like this. Looks like her little de-evolution project will be coming to a halt. _

_AN: I think I like where this is going too. Can't wait until the Rani finds out that she's being screwed over._


	13. Chapter 13

_"Equiveradaraxess of House Darkhaven," Cardinal Centuria called. _

_ Epsilon anxiously stood up. She looked at her older brother, Ibroo and her cousins, Lambda, Theoress, and Quintas. They nodded and said a few words of encouragement. She sighed and followed Cardinal Centuria into a large room. At the other end of the room sat the Untempered Schism, a tear in the fabric of reality used for initiating new students at the Time Lord Academy. Epsilon looked over at Cardinal Centuria and smiled nervously. Cardinal Centuria smiled back and nodded at Epsilon, who began to approach the Schism. It took forever to walk the entire fifty feet from one end of the room to the other. She wiped her sweaty palms on her clothing and hesitated for a moment. _

_It was said that those who looked into the Untempered Schism would either be inspired, go mad, or run away. When one looked into the Schism, they looked into the Time Vortex. Epsilon took a deep breath and looked through the opening. She saw the swirling vortex changing between the colours red and blue. Her eyes widened. She grinned, mesmerized by the raw power of time travel. _Someday, I will travel through time and Space,_ she thought to herself. _Someday, I will become a traveler.

That was the day when Epsilon had looked into the Untempered Schism and was inspired to travel. She had gone through so much since then. The Prydonian Chapter, the Time War, the destruction of her home and the deaths of most of her family, being trapped in the Rani's TARDIS, meeting Cass, befriending Zanna Sterling, becoming the Doctor's travelling companion, releasing the Empathic Majeeran; she had experienced all of that and only in the first century of her life. She could not help but wonder where her life would be going next.

The sound of someone shouting was what brought Epsilon from her daydream. The sound bounced off the walls of the tunnel and echoed through the entire tunnel system.

"What was that?" she exclaimed.

The Doctor and Cass looked at each other.

"More like _who_ was that," the Doctor corrected.

"It's definitely not the Rani," Cass said. "The voice we heard sounds like it could have come from a man."

"Right," the Doctor agreed.

"But which way was it coming from?" Cass wondered. "It's hard to tell with the echo."

The Doctor immediately pointed straight ahead and towards a sharp turn. "This way," he said, grinning. "Come on."

The Doctor, Cass, and Epsilon turned the corner to see the Corrians standing around a large hole. Varell looked up and motioned for the Doctor and the others to come closer.

"I don't think I understand what this man is saying," he said.

"What was he saying?" the Doctor asked.

Tavric spoke up. "He keeps referring to himself as a ball of burning gas and says that we're losers, even though we haven't lost anything," he explained. "Do you have any idea what he's talking about?"

Epsilon peered into the hole and saw a young man who had blonde hair, grey eyes, and a clean-shaven face. He looked to be about the same age as Zanna, and was wearing fancy, name-brand clothing.

"I think I know," Zanna said, running over to where the others were standing, followed by Fender, Dodge, and a Silurian. She peered into the hole. "Wesley Creed," she said. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Never mind that," Wesley snapped. "Just get me out of here!"

"No," Zanna said. "Not until you ask nicely."

"Just get me out of here, _please_," Wesley said, clenching his teeth.

"Close enough," Zanna said with a shrug. She lay down on her stomach and reached into the hole. "Take my hands," she said. Suddenly, she felt something wrapping itself around her ankle. She looked back and saw that Tavric was grasping her ankle with his tail. He smiled and grasped part of a ladder that led up to an opening in the ceiling of the tunnel.

"Just so you don't fall in," he explained.

"Uhhhh…okay then," Zanna muttered, her face beginning to feel hot. She turned back towards Wesley.

"Don't think for a second that you're doing me a favour," he snarled.

Zanna rolled her eyes. "I _am_ doing you a favour," she retorted.

The Doctor approached Zanna and stood next to her, staring at Wesley. "Do you know him?" he asked.

"Not really, but I've met him before," Zanna said. "It wasn't a very good experience. I had just ordered an iced coffee at this fancy coffee shop I heard about, and I was waiting for them to finish making it. Then this clown showed up with his security guards and orders everyone to leave, just so he can have the whole place to himself."

"Did you still get your iced coffee?" the Doctor asked.

Zanna frowned. "Yeah, but by then an hour had gone by and it was all watery."

"Can I just call to attention the fact that we're still in the process of helping Wesley out of the hole?" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Oh, right," Zanna said. She grabbed Wesley by his wrists and pulled him out.

Wesley dusted off his clothing and muttered incoherently with a scowl.

"I think what he said was 'arrrgh-reckin-frakkin-mucket-stupid losers-gurbit-donk,'" Epsilon explained. "Funny how people have a tendency to say a load of nonsense when they're angry.

Suddenly, the cuff around Varell's wrist began to flash. Varell pressed a button on the back of the cuff and a projection of Keet appeared. She looked very frightened.

"Keet, what's wrong?" Varell asked.

"It's Lexine!" Keet exclaimed. "She's giving birth! What do I do?"

"Grab a blanket, a pair of rubber gloves, and a bowl of ice chips. Then get a bucket and fill it with warm water. I'll be over in a minute," Varell explained. He turned to Chid and Tavric. "I have to go and help them," he said. "Are you coming with me or staying?"

"I'm coming," Chid said.

Tavric shook his head. "You two go ahead," he said. "I'll find Zagliss."

Varell and Chid nodded. "Alright," Varell said. "Be safe."

"I'll try," Tavric said.

"Listen to what the Doctor tells you," Varell said as he and Chid turned to leave.

"I'll try," Tavric repeated.

He watched quietly as Varell and Chid disappeared around a corner. Then he turned back towards the others.

Meanwhile, Epsilon had approached Zanna and the two had begun a conversation.

"So, are all well-known people like Wesley?" Epsilon asked.

Zanna shook her head. "Not all of them," she said. "I went to a convention a few years back and met some famous people who were pretty friendly. Mind you, it cost a lot of money to go to that convention. I pretty much lived on ramen noodles and ninety-nine cent cans of pop after that, but it was all worth it."

"Good," Epsilon said. She looked around and saw that Wesley had disappeared. "Where has he gone?" she wondered.

"Where do you think?" Kida hissed.

Wesley trudged through the corridor and into the Rani's laboratory, where the Rani was staring at a series of monitors. "Rani," he called.

The Rani turned and stared at him. "What is it?" she demanded.

"They're here," he said. "They're looking for you."

"Yes, I know," the Rani said calmly, turning towards a panel of buttons and pressing a button. "And I know just how to fix that."


	14. Chapter 14

_AN: So, this is Chapter 14. Thank you for the follows, favourites and reviews (I only have one person reviewing right now, but I would still like to say thank you). On another note, I would like to direct attention to my newest OCs, Kida and Wesley. Kida was someone I've been looking into creating for quite a while. Kida's most likely the "black sheep" of her genetic line because of her differing viewpoints from those of Alaya, Restac, and most likely their mother. Wesley, on the other hand was created as a parody of celebrities who are around Zanna's age, who is not meant to be taken seriously. Wesley works for the Rani, but he can easily side with whoever is winning, just for the purpose of saving his own backside. _

_Hope you enjoy the next chapter._

"Did you have something to do with this?" Zanna demanded.

"No," Kida said. "If I did, the Rani wouldn't be locking me up with you."

"And you're being completely honest right now?" Cass questioned.

"Yes," Kida answered.

Epsilon opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry. She rubbed her eyes and blinked until her vision became clearer. She looked around. _Great_, she thought. _Another holding cell. _She sat up and looked at the other people in the cell. "What happened?" she wondered.

"Don't you remember?" Zanna asked. "The Rani released a bunch of mechanical spiders, which drugged us by biting us."

"Great," Epsilon retorted. "Where's the Doctor?"

"In another cell with Dodge, Fender, and Tavric, I guess," Zanna said.

"And I presume that this cell will be more difficult to break out of," Epsilon guessed.

Zanna nodded. "I ruined a throwing knife trying that thing we did last time," she said. "It just bounced back. It's got a huge dent in the blade now."

"And I'm assuming that sonic devices don't work in here either," Epsilon said. "So it looks like we're stuck here."

The women sighed. After a few minutes of silence, Zanna spoke up. "I wonder how the guys are handling this," she said.

Meanwhile, in the adjacent cell, the Doctor, Fender, Dodge, and Tavric had woken up and had begun a conversation.

"So why's Tavric being all quiet?" Fender asked.

Tavric, who had been sitting cross-legged in the corner of the cell, turned and looked at the others. "I wasn't sedated properly," Tavric said, lowering his gaze. "I could hear everything that was going on. Zagliss, she….she's working with the Rani. How am I going to tell this to the others?"

The Doctor placed his hand hand on Tavric's shoulder.

"I heard what she said," he continued. "She said that the Rani might as well use me for her experiments. Then she said that the others would just sit around and worry about both of us. She said they'll be too afraid to come around here again."

"Is it true?" the Doctor questioned. "About the others, I mean?"

"I doubt it," Tavric said. "Varell and Chid made it far enough that they'd probably come back in a heartbeat. " He sighed.

The Doctor turned and examined the force field generators located in the threshold. "There's a way of shutting these down without the code," he said.

"What is it?" Dodge questioned.

"We need a small, metallic disc shaped like a hendecagon," the Doctor explained. "Then we need to shove it into one of these generators."

"Do you have any of those discs?" Fender asked.

"No," the Doctor replied. "Do you?"

The others shook their heads.

They all sighed.

"I wonder how the girls are handling this," Fender said.

"Ah, knowing them, they'd probably be doing pretty well," Dodge said with a smile.

"Yes," the Doctor agreed. "They would."

Back in the other cell, the women spoke in hushed tones, trying to come up with a way to escape.

"About Wesley," Cass began. "Is he thick?"

"Very," Kida hissed.

"Perhaps we can trick him into letting us out," Zanna chimed in, looking thoughtful.

Epsilon nodded. "But how?" she wondered.

Kida thought for a moment. "Perhaps one of us could lure him inside, and then we can knock him unconscious, and then make our escape," she suggested.

"But how will we lure him in here?" Cass wondered. "Surely, we have to be believable."

While Cass and Kida discussed the latter's plan, Epsilon had begun to examine the force field. Suddenly, she spoke up. "Hold on a second," she said. "This force field; I've seen this kind of force field before. In fact, I'm familiar with a lot of force fields. That's exactly what being locked up in a lot of holding cells will do to you."

"How about that," Zanna said. "You're always learning new stuff about people."

"Anyway," Epsilon continued; "This particular force field can't be disrupted by sharp objects or tampered with using hairpins of any sort. _But_ if we shove a small, metallic disc shaped like a hendecagon into one of the generators located in the threshold, the force field will shut down."

"A hendecagon is an eleven-sided polygon, right?" Zanna guessed. "And you said small and metallic? Would this work?" She reached out and handed Epsilon a loony.

"Where did you get that?" Epsilon asked.

"Nobody bothered to check my shoes," Zanna said with a shrug. "Lucky, eh?"

Epsilon clutched the coin and approached the left side of the threshold. She then shoved the coin into one of the force field generators. Immediately, the force field shut down.

"Now to release the others," Epsilon said, striding over to the adjacent cell and shoving the coin into one of its force field generators. "Come on out, you lot," she said.

"Where did you get that?" the Doctor asked.

"Luckily, nobody checked my shoes," Zanna explained. She paused. "I want my loony back," she said bluntly, turning and looking at Epsilon.

"Brilliant," the Doctor said. "And now that this is all sorted out, it's time to come up with a plan."


	15. Chapter 15

_AN: Okay, I'll admit that the last chapter was a bit of a dud. It's unclear how they ended up in the holding cells and come on! Shove a loony in the generator? Talk about an a**-pull, eh? Well, hopefully there will still be people around to read this chapter. And hopefully this one will be better. I'm also feeling like I should take the Mary Sue litmus test again. Anyway, enjoy._

Quickly and quietly, the Doctor and his companions crept down a corridor and flattened themselves against the wall when they reached an intersection.

"I can check to see if the coast is clear," Zanna offered.

The Doctor hesitated.

"Don't worry," Zanna insisted. "I've got this."

"Alright, fine," the Doctor said. "But do it carefully. The Rani could have set all kinds of traps in these corridors."

"Yeah, like the hole that Wesley fell into," Zanna joked. She crept around the corner and looked around. Suddenly, the cell phone in her pocket vibrated. _Why didn't I turn off that phone when I got my stuff back, _she thought. _And why did I agree to having a superphone anyway? And when did I ever use it? _ She took the phone out of her pocket and held it up to her ear. "Hello?" she ventured.

"Suzanna Doreen Sterling, where the hell have you been?" It was her mother, and judging by the tone of her voice and use of Zanna's full name, she was not happy.

"I was worried sick!" her mother continued. "You're gone for weeks, you haven't turned up for work, Echo and Luke keep making these stupid excuses as to where you are, and then Garrett comes to me with information about some guy that you barely even know! What the hell were you thinking? Not to mention that you need to find a new job to start paying for your tuition and buy your textbooks! At this rate, you might have to wait another year! And on top of all that, Christmas is coming! Are you even gonna be coming back for Christmas? What's going on?"

"Can we talk about this later?" Zanna hissed. "I'm busy!"

"Why are you whispering?" her mother demanded. "And where is that man that Garrett told me about? I want to give him a piece of my mind!"

"Not now!" Zanna insisted. "I'm in the middle of something."

"Like what?" her mother challenged. "Are you doing anything illegal? Did that man put you up to this?"

"No! Calm down!" Zanna hissed. "In fact, he's perfectly fine. We're not up to anything. There are other people with us too. I'll introduce you to him later and you'll see. Alright? I love you. Take care. Oh, and tell Echo and Luke that everything's going just fine."

"Alright," her mother said, relenting. "I hope you're right."

Before Zanna could answer, she felt someone slamming into her, knocking her onto her side. She hit her head on the side of the corridor. "Ow!" she cried.

"Don't you touch her!" the Doctor shouted at Zanna's attacker.

Zanna looked at her attacker. It was a Corrian. She had long, black hair that was fastened into two braids that dangled from the sides of her head. She also had yellow eyes and sharp fangs. She looked menacing.

Suddenly, she sprang forwards. Zanna felt the Corrian's nails slashing across her face and then saw her sharp fangs preparing to close in on her throat. Zanna tightly clenched her fist and punched her attacker as hard as she possibly could. Her attacker cried out and stumbled backwards before slumping down against the wall on the other side of the corridor. Zanna cautiously approached the Corrian and stared at her for a moment, wondering what she should do next. Without warning, the Corrian sprang forward and tackled her, wrapping her hands around her neck and throttling her. Cass and Epsilon darted forward, dragged the Corrian away from Zanna, turned her over and pinned her to the ground. The Doctor turned on a flashlight and shined it into her face.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Zagliss," Tavric whispered, recognizing her as his sister.

"Hello, brother," she sneered.

"Why would you leave us?" Tavric questioned. "We cared about you."

"There was nothing there for me," Zagliss snarled.

"What about our siblings?" Tavric continued. "They miss you."

"I don't see any of them rushing over here to find me," Zagliss said.

"I heard what you said when I was captured," Tavric said. "You were going to have the Rani doing experiments on me. How could you even think of doing that?"

"The Rani needed a test subject for her latest project," Zagliss said. "She's studying de-evolution in our species. You seemed like a perfect test subject."

Tavric's gaze darkened. "I can't believe it," he said. "She's completely brainwashed you."

Zagliss laughed. "Are you joking?" she hissed. "She offered me a way out of my dull life and I accepted. It's as simple as that."

Epsilon approached Tavric and placed her hand on his shoulder. Tavric shrugged her hand away and began to walk down the corridor.

Suddenly, they could hear an animalistic screech coming from down the corridor.

"Blimey!" the Doctor exclaimed. "What _is_ that?"

Tavric froze in his tracks and ran back over to the others. "Oh, no!" he exclaimed. "Stone-creepers! We have to get out of here!"

"What the hell are those?" Fender exclaimed.

"If they're as bad as Tavric is making them out to be, I think we should run," the Doctor said.

Immediately after the Doctor spoke, a large number of enormous insects scuffled towards them. The insects were shiny and black with seven legs and large pincers. Tavric hissed and darted down the corridor with Fender and Kida following closely behind him. Dodge also turned and began to follow behind them. "Come on!" he shouted to the Doctor, Zanna, Cass, and Epsilon. Zagliss wriggled out of Epsilon and Cass' grip and stared at the approaching insects for a moment. Zanna stared at her. Suddenly, she felt lightheaded. She saw a vision of Epsilon holding her hand over her left eye. The she began to feel her eyesight growing darker and her legs buckling beneath her. _You're kidding me,_ she thought as she passed out.

The Doctor frantically ran over to her as she collapsed. "No, no, _no!_" he shouted, standing over her. "Don't _do_ that!" He awkwardly tried to lift her, placing her right arm across his shoulders. A few seconds later, he was joined by Cass, who began supporting Zanna's left side. She nodded to the Doctor, who smiled at her. They looked back at Epsilon.

"Epsilon, we have to go!" the Doctor shouted.

Epsilon said nothing. She merely stood and stared at the large insects rushing towards her. Suddenly, she felt a stinging sensation running down from just above her eyebrow to her cheekbone. Her vision was clouded with blood. She clapped her hand over the gash and turned to see Zagliss grinning at her maliciously. Epsilon looked down and saw the jagged piece of metal attached to the Corrian's tail.

"I didn't recognize it was you without that scar," Zagliss sneered. "The Rani said you had one once. I thought it would make you easier to recognize when she finds you." And with that, she turned and sprinted away before anyone could retaliate.

Epsilon joined the Doctor and Cass, and she slid her unoccupied arm under Zanna's knees. They moved as fast as they could while carrying the Earth Human. Suddenly, they saw Kida waving to them from underneath a trap door. They quickly shuffled over to the door and climbed down into a small passageway where they were greeted by the Silurian, as well as Tavric.

"Oh, hello," the Doctor said happily.

"What happened to Fender and Dodge?" Epsilon asked, noticing that the two young men were nowhere to be found.

"We got separated," Tavric said. "What happened to your face?"

Epsilon tensed. "Your sister, that's what," she grumbled. "She has metal on her tail."

"Why am I not surprised?" Tavric sighed.

The Doctor moved to stand in front of Epsilon. "Let's have a look at your eye," he said. He examined the large gash. "Not too deep," he said. "And the eye is still completely intact. Just let me close the gash." He took out his sonic screwdriver and held it close to Epsilon's injury. The wound closed, leaving a clean scratch running from her eyebrow to her cheekbone.

Epsilon took a compact mirror out of the pouch on her belt and stared at her reflection. "Looks like I'll just have to get used to having that scar again," she said.

The Doctor looked a Kida and Tavric. "When was the last time you saw Fender and Dodge?" he asked.

"They were heading further down the corridor," Kida said.

"Well then, when those insect creatures are gone, I think we should go and look for them," the Doctor announced, clapping his hands together.

_AN: Ok, so I hope this one wasn't as much of a dud. Thanks for your patience._


	16. Chapter 16

Wesley trudged through the forest until he reached the Rani's TARDIS. When he got there, he opened the doors and began to wander the corridors, finding his suitcase and packing it with the clothing and valuables he had brought from home. He had heard that the Doctor, his companions, and the Silurian had escaped from their holding cells and he was not going to say long enough to see if things would be happening in their favor from then on. With a duffel bag packed, he began to head back down the corridor towards the console room, but then he stopped in front of a door and decided to open it and look inside.

The room was dark, and the only furniture was a small table. On the table was a small sphere – only a decimeter across – which had a dull, cyan glow. It sat on a small, metal stand for support and it stayed there the entire time that Wesley served as one of the Rani's assistants. He knew what it was. It was one of the Rani's experiments. If the device was created correctly, it would give the user the ability to control reality. It was what she used to escape the Time Vortex several years before he met her. He had always felt intrigued by it. He wanted to see how it worked. He slowly approached the table, his eyes glued to the eerie globe sitting on its stand in the dead centre of the table. Before thinking, Wesley greedily seized the globe and stuffed it into the duffel bag. Satisfied, he headed to the console room.

When he reached the front door, he stopped and looked back for a moment. He smirked. "So long, freaks," he said, turning back and pushing the front doors open. He stepped out into the forest and began to make his way through the wilderness. Suddenly, the ground fell away beneath his feet and he fell into a pit, hitting his head on a large root halfway down. He rubbed the goose egg forming on his head and looked up.

"Oh, frax!" a female voice hissed. "Now I'll have to build it all over again!" The owner of the voice peered into the hole and scowled. It was a young Corrian who looked to be at least nineteen years of age. She had long, bushy, black hair; pale skin, and round, blue eyes. Unlike the other Corrians he had met, she had a taller, leaner body; more prominent markings, sharp fangs, and a small stinger on the tip of her tail. "Couldn't you have watched where you were going?" she demanded.

"Oh, shut up," Wesley snapped.

"I'm sorry," the young woman said. "I had no idea that anyone else would stray this close to the Witch's box. I thought that it would be a good place to hunt since the others don't come here. Let me introduce myself. My name is Enketa. Let me help you out of the pit." She extended her hand towards Wesley.

"I don't need any help," Wesley barked, slapping Enketa's hand away. "I can climb out myself."

"Suit yourself," Enketa muttered, turning and slinking away.

Wesley glared after her and then examined the sides of the pit. The only thing he could grab hold of was the root he had hit his head on a few minutes before. He reached up and grabbed it with both hands. Then he hoisted himself up and straddled the root before standing on top of it and trying to pull himself out of the pit. Suddenly, the root snapped and he tumbled back to the bottom.

"Dammit!" he shouted, grabbing the root and flinging it over the edge.

"Ow!" Enketa shouted from a few feet away. "Was that really necessary?"

"Why are you still here?" Wesley shouted back. "I told you I can get out myself!"

"I wanted to see if you really could get out yourself," Enketa said. "Now would you like some help?"

"Oh, fine then!" Wesley barked.

"Just don't throw any more roots at me, alright?" Enketa said. "And don't speak to me like that."

"Just get on with it!" Wesley shouted.

Enketa growled and reached her hand towards him. Wesley grabbed her hand and she pulled him onto the ground next to her.

"Now what do you say?" Enketa demanded.

Wesley ignored her. Instead he stood up, adjusted his duffel bag, and began walking away from her.

Enketa lashed her tail. _Good riddance, _she thought.

Zanna opened her eyes . She looked around and saw that she and the others were in a small compartment that could only fit a few people. She could hear the sounds of scraping and screeching coming from above their heads. "What happened?" she wondered.

"You fainted," the Doctor said, matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, I get that, but what else happened?" Zanna insisted.

"Well, to make a long story short, you fainted, Tavric's sister scarred Epsilon's face, we carried you into this passageway, and Fender and Dodge are nowhere to be found," the Doctor explained. "Now what we're going to do is wait until the giant insects are gone, find Dodge and Fender, figure out what the Rani is playing at, stop her, take Kida home, and then go back to travelling."

"Sounds like a plan," Zanna said. She looked over to where the others were sitting and noticed the aforementioned scar on Epsilon's face. She remembered the vision she had just before she passed out of the young Time Lady holding her hand over her eye. She turned to the Doctor.

"I think I'd like to know what's going on," she said.

"I just told you," the Doctor said, raising an eyebrow.

"Not that," Zanna corrected. "The visions, the voices in my head; they seem to be pretty accurate. I think you know what's happening to me."

The Doctor said nothing, instead taking his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and examining it. "It's complicated," he said.

"No, it's not," Zanna insisted. "I'm the one experiencing this. I think I have a right to know. Tell me."

"I can't," the Doctor said, looking uncomfortable.

"Why not?" Zanna demanded, her temper rising.

The Doctor looked away.

"Just tell me," Zanna insisted.

The Doctor hesitated, seeming to wonder whether to tell Zanna or not. "Alright," he finally said. "I'm suspecting that the Rani experimented on you with drugs that induce extrasensory perception."

"Surprisingly, that makes a lot of sense," Zanna said. "_I _could have figured that out. Why were you keeping it from me if it was that simple?"

"Just wanted to be sure," the Doctor replied.

"And the headaches, the nosebleeds, the fainting spells…"

"Side effects."

"I knew it. Is it dangerous?"

The Doctor frowned. "I don't know," he said. "And to be quite honest, I don't like not knowing. Not one bit."

"So, am I gonna die?" Zanna questioned.

"I told you, I don't know," the Doctor insisted. He folded his arms across his chest and looked down at the ground. Zanna could not help but begin to regret badgering him into telling her, at least until he knew all of the details.

Suddenly, the Doctor looked up. "They're gone," he said, getting up and pushing the trap door open.

"Are you sure?" Cass asked.

"Yes," the Doctor said, climbing through the opening.

Epsilon shrugged and followed him, along with Kida and Tavric. Cass prepared to follow them, but then turned to Zanna, who was still deep in thought.

"Are you coming?" she wondered.

"Oh, yeah," Zanna said. She got up and climbed through the trap door with Cass following her. Once they were both through the opening, Zanna began to follow the others, but then noticed that Cass was heading in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Back to the Rani's TARDIS," Cass replied. "I have an Idea."

"Now I know what she's playing at," the Doctor said, scowling at the monitors depicting and the devices accelerating the gradual de-evolution of the Corrians and depicting the biological and historical information on the species. "She's using a perfectly peaceful species as guinea pigs in her experiments. She's moving them farther and farther away from the forest, giving them technology and luxury items – something we would think would be more linked to progression – and seeing what happens to them. You would think that this would be progress, but no. Look at them. They're getting weaker and unhealthier, and losing the traits associated with their species. She's even accelerating the de-evolution rate by centuries. Each generation will get worse if we don't do something."

"Yes," Epsilon agreed. "Introducing technology might be progressive for some species', but not for every species. Is there any way we can change them back?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No," he said. "The damage is already done. All we can do now is stop the Rani and find a way to slow the process."

"What will happen to Lexine's children?" Epsilon wondered.

The Doctor placed his hand on his face. "I don't know," he said sadly. "Whatever happens, there's nothing I can do about what happens to them."

"No, I believe you don't," the Rani said, approaching the Doctor and Epsilon.

"What in the name of sanity do you think you are doing?" the Doctor demanded.

"Research?" the Rani suggested, shrugging her shoulders.

Epsilon scowled. "Well, whatever it is, it's going to stop," she said, preparing to tamper with the devices being used to accelerate the de-evolution of the Corrians.

"I'd step away from there if I were you," the Rani said, shaking her head and pointing a staser pistol at the young girl.

Immediately, Epsilon did as the Rani said, stepping away from the devices and raising her arms.

"Put the gun down," the Doctor said coldly.

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" the Rani sneered.

Suddenly, the Rani cried out and pressed her hand against the side of her neck. She collapsed to the ground to reveal Kida standing behind her. "It's funny how you were pointing the gun at the Time Lords while the real threat was behind you," the Silurian warrior said, grabbing the staser pistol and pulling it out of the Rani's hand. "And if you behave, I just might tell you the cure for my venom."

The Rani scowled. "You're helping him even after he played a part in the deaths of your sisters?" she questioned.

Kida shrugged. "He wasn't the one who killed them," she said. "Alaya was killed by a desperate ape and Restac died when Eldane released a toxic fumigation."

The Doctor frowned at Kida and then stared at the Rani. "Now tell me about Zanna," he said.

"What about her?" the Rani demanded.

"You used her as a test subject for extrasensory perception inducing drugs. Are the effects harmful?"

"No," the Rani admitted. "The ingredients in the serum are perfectly safe. But I did frighten you for a moment, didn't I."

"That's all I needed to know," the Doctor said, patting his former classmate on the head. "Now where can I find a sample of that serum? Just to be safe. To check to see if you're not lying and she really isn't fine."

"It's through those doors," the Rani said reluctantly, pointing at the double doors at the side of the room.

"Right then. And I'll make the venom antidote," Kida said.

Epsilon watched them leave ad then scowled at the Rani. "Not only did you make life miserable for me, Cass, and Dodge, but you also perform unorthodox experiments on other species'. You know, you never cease to amaze me," she said coldly.

"It's for my own scientific research," the Rani said. "Do you honestly think I would go for the species that can defend itself? I chose the Corrians because they don't have any way to stop me. Just like how I experimented on you and those ridiculous apes."

"Well, now I can see why you were exiled from Gallifrey," Epsilon sneered, using her sonic probe to hack into the devices to slow the de-evolution of the Corrians. She then shorted out the devices and made sure that they could not be repaired. Suddenly, she could feel her body grow numb and she passed out. She did not see that the Rani had a sonic device of her own and could use it to fight back.

"You really shouldn't have mentioned my exile," the Rani said, trying to keep herself from losing her temper. She stepped over the young girl and scanned the damaged devices. "Damaged beyond repair," she concluded. She checked a small opening in the hard drive of one of the devices. She opened it and removed a small data chip. She grinned and began to make her way to her TARDIS. _I don't need that stupid reptile to find the cure for me_, she thought. _I can come up with that myself. Good riddance, Doctor. Good riddance, reptile. Good riddance, child._

"Okay," Zanna said, removing a small chip from the console while Cass tampered with the paneling in the Rani's TARDIS. "So you learned how to break into TARDISes when you were a kid? Pretty handy." Suddenly, she frowned. "And by the way, what do we do if someone comes and finds us?"

"Then I guess we're done for," Cass explained unenthusiastically, removing a small piece of wiring from the paneling. "Got it."

"You dismantled the landing circuit?" Zanna guessed.

"Yep," Cass said, placing the wire in her pocket. "That ought to keep the old hag occupied."

"You really hate her, don't you?" Zanna commented.

Cass nodded. "Wouldn't anyone?"

"I guess," Zanna agreed. "So how did you know how to get in here and do all this stuff?"

"Remember, I used to fight Time Lords, so I know a thing or two about tampering with TARDISes," Cass pointed out as the two women walked through the front doors and began trekking through the forest.

They were ambushed a few times by a few individual stone creepers, but they were able to fight them off with Zanna's throwing knives. "I can't imagine having to fight that whole swarm of them back in the tunnels earlier," Zanna commented.

Soon, they came to a gorge and heard someone shouting for help, barely audible against the sound of rushing water below. They looked down and saw Wesley hanging onto a root, dangling fifty feet above the water.

"Help!" he called when he saw them.

Zanna frowned. _Oh, so now he wants my help_, Zanna thought to herself before turning to Cass. "Got any rope?" she asked.

Cass shook her head, but then grabbed a nearby vine. They both lowered it and Wesley grabbed hold. They found pulling him up to be a struggle, most likely because of the large duffel bag he was carrying.

"Can you drop the bag?" Zanna questioned. "It's making it harder for us to pull you up."

"I can't!" Wesley shouted.

"Can't or _won't_?" Cass demanded.

"I just can't, ok?" Wesley insisted.

Suddenly, Zanna and Cass felt someone grab onto the vine and join them pulling the young man to safety. They turned and saw one of the Forest People. The Corrian smiled and they continued pulling until Wesley was out of the gorge.

"You really have a habit of falling into trouble," she said, smirking at Wesley.

Wesley said nothing, instead rummaging around in the bag. Zanna stared at him, wondering what could be in the bag that was so important before dismissing it as being overly materialistic.

They all sat and panted for a moment. Then Zanna looked at the newcomer. "Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Enketa," she said.

"Nice to meet you," Zanna said. "I'm Zanna and this is Cass."

"Hello," Cass greeted.

"Now, do you think it's about time we found the others?" Zanna wondered.

"Where's the Rani?" Kida demanded as Epsilon came to after being knocked unconscious.

"I don't know," Epsilon said. "I had just deactivated the devices causing the de-evolution, and then the next thing I knew, I was on the ground."

Kida sighed and joined the Doctor, who was examining the devices to see if Epsilon had fully deactivated them. "You were very thorough," he commented.

"Thank you," Epsilon said, taking out her sonic probe and grinning.

The group walked through the tunnel system until they saw Tavric crying over Zagliss' lifeless, mutilated body with Dodge and Fender trying to comfort him.

"What happened?" Epsilon asked.

"She's dead," Tavric said. "My sister is dead. The stone creepers did this to her."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, placing his hand on Tavric's shoulder.

The journey back to the forest was short, but it seemed to take ages. Tavric's tail dragged on the ground as he walked. Soon, they found Zanna, Cass, Wesley, and another Corrian heading towards them.

"Where have you been?" the Doctor asked.

"We left a little surprise for the Rani in her TARDIS," Zanna explained.

"And I expect that it's the kind of surprise that will keep her busy for a long time?" the Doctor assumed.

"Yep," Zanna said.

"What did you do?"

Zanna and Cass looked at each other and smiled.

The Rani stumbled into her TARDIS and flicked a few levers on the console, immediately dematerializing it. Grinning, she reached into her pocket and took out a small chip containing the data from the de-evolution experiment. She then put the data chip back into her pocket and attempted to land, only for her TARDIS to jerk back into the time vortex. She frowned and looked at the landing circuit to find that it had been dismantled.

"Blasted apes!" she shouted, remembering that Zanna and Cass were not with the Doctor and the others at the time of their confrontation. She also saw the Corrian and the two male humans as she was escaping back to the teleport, so it could not have been them. The piece of wiring that was missing was an important part of the circuit. Without it, her TARDIS would not be able to land. She stroked the console. "What have they done to you?" she whispered. She quickly ran towards the room where she kept the reality globe, hoping that she could use it to correct the situation, only to find the globe missing. "Those scoundrels!" she shouted.

"Right then," the Doctor began. "So we're taking Kida and Wesley home, giving Fender and Dodge a lift to wherever, and then going on our next trip."

"Actually, Doctor, I'd like to go home too," Zanna corrected. "I haven't been home in a while and people are starting to worry. And on top of that, I need to get ready for University."

"Oh," the Doctor exclaimed. "Alright then. You made a commitment; I understand that."

"But don't think of it as 'goodbye'," Zanna said. "Think of it more like 'see you later'. Is it okay if I leave the stuff I brought here for when I come back?"

"Yes, of course," the Doctor said. "And are you going to introduce me to your mother like you told her on the phone?"

Zanna shook her head. "Nah," she said. "If we end up seeing each other again at, say, Christmas, I'll introduce you two then. For now, I'll just say you're busy. And to be honest, my new ESP is telling me that you had some bad encounters with your other companions' mothers, so I think it's best to wait a little and have me talk to her about it first. I mean, what would any mother do if she found out her daughter ran off with some random guy?"

"Fair enough," the Doctor said, feeling a bit embarrassed to hear that Zanna knew what happened when he first met Jackie Tyler, Francine Jones, and Sylvia Noble.

"So it's settled," Zanna concluded. "I'll see you guys at Christmas."

"Okay," the Doctor said, still thinking about everything that Zanna had said to him.

Zanna hugged him tightly and then did the same with Epsilon, Cass, Fender, and Dodge. She also shook hands with Kida. Then she walked up to the doors, took one last look around and left. Wesley also darted through the doors and shut them behind him.

Everyone watched her go before Epsilon spoke up. "Can we go now, Doctor?" she asked. "I've never celebrated Christmas before."

The Doctor thought for a moment before nodding. He had celebrated Christmas before and quite liked it. "Alright," he said. "But first we need to drop everyone else off and see why Tavric would think we wouldn't notice him hiding in here." He turned and grinned widely at the Corrian who had finally un-camouflaged himself and stared at them nervously.

"And to be honest," the Doctor continued; "I'd like to see why Wesley was in such a hurry to leave."

_AN: Alright, so that's the end of Series 1. I'd like to thank you all for reading my story and for the good reviews. After this, I'll be working on a Christmas story and then I'll start Series 2 in the New Year. Hope you stick around. _

_Eureka out!_


	17. Chapter 17

_October, 1998; Somewhere in Northern Ontario_

"Okay, Bridg, how does this look?" Sabrina McGann asked her younger sister, showing off the outfit she was wearing. She was wearing a midriff-revealing, black t-shirt with a skull on the front, green camouflage cargo pants, and a pair of black and white trainers. The chubby, dark-haired girl of fifteen, Bridget, grinned.

"Nice," she said, giving Sabrina the thumbs-up. "So are you and Danny, like, gonna kiss yet?"

"No," Sabrina said. "We're just friends and I like it that way."

"Whatever you say," Bridget giggled with another shrug. Then she got up and left the room.

Sabrina rolled her eyes and turned towards her vanity. She quickly tied her long, dark hair into two high pigtails, fastening them down with a pair of red plaid scrunchies. She then applied some blush to her pale face, following up with black lipstick and eyeliner. Then she got up, put on her blue denim jacket and a green, canvas book bag that contained her money, identification, cell phone, pager, Gameboy, walkman, a few tapes, and the keys to her dad's old nineteen eighty-eight convertible.

She hopped down the stairs and headed out onto the driveway where the car was waiting for her. It was silver and the canvas roof was beginning to tear from its frame, only to be reinforced with duct tape. On top of that, the tires were mismatched from being replaced more than once and there was also a dent in the front, caused by an incident involving a large buck.

Sabrina lowered her head in annoyance when she heard the familiar sound of laughter.

"Hey, Sabrina!" a blonde girl called from a pink convertible. "That car looks sweet...NOT!"

"Oh, step off, Courtney!" Sabrina shouted. "And FYI, we leave the doors open in case someone wants to jack the damn thing!"

"Maybe it'll get repossessed," Courtney said.

"You mean like, oh, I dunno, all your previous boyfriends?" Sabrina suggested.

Courtney said nothing, opting instead to make an obscene hand gesture before driving away.

Sabrina rolled her eyes, got into the car, and turned on the ignition. Then she pulled out into the street and made her way over to Danny's house where she saw her friend waiting on the front porch. Sabrina had always thought that Danny was handsome in a rather peculiar sort of way with his bushy, brown hair; green eyes, thick glasses, and the way he would usually sport a silly, toothy grin. She found him to be very friendly and was just the type of guy she wanted to hug.

"Hi, Sabrina," he said cheerfully.

"Hey, Danny," Sabrina said. "Did your dad have a safe trip here?"

"Yeah," Danny said. "He's in the house right now. So are we going?"

"Yep," Sabrina chirped. Come on."

Danny climbed into the passenger seat and they set off down a road located in the middle of a forest. Then they started thinking about their plans for that evening.

"So where are we going?" Danny asked. "The lake?"

"Sure," Sabrina said. "We can put our money together and rent a kayak if you want."

"Sounds great," Danny said.

Suddenly, they noticed a man run out in front of them, causing them both to cry out. Sabrina tried to slam on the brakes, but it was too late. She squeezed her eyes shut as the man was knocked against the windshield, only to roll off the hood and land with a sickening thud. _Dang it,_ Sabrina thought to herself, grasping the steering wheel. She heaved a heavy sigh and turned to Danny.

"Should we see if he's okay?" she wondered.

"I doubt that he'd be okay, but we can look," Danny said, the colour draining from his already-pale face.

They took a deep breath, got out of the car, and approached the man lying in the road. He was a handsome man who looked to be in his mid-to-late thirties with wavy, brown hair and pale skin. He was dressed in Victorian clothing, complete with a velvet jacket, a waistcoat, a pocket watch, and a pair of grey dress pants.

"Hey, Mister," Sabrina whispered, nudging the stranger on the shoulder. "Are you alright?"

The man groaned and slightly opened his eyes, revealing them to be an attractive shade of blue.

"He's alive!" Danny exclaimed happily.

"Let's just hope he's not gonna sue," Sabrina said cautiously. She turned back to the stranger. "Can you talk?"

"Quite well, actually," the man said.

"Well," Sabrina said; "Score. Are you hurt?"

"I don't think I can walk," the stranger said. "Can you help me?"

"Please," Sabrina said. "It's the least we can do. But I'm just wondering how you're still conscious after being all messed up like this."

"Let's just say I'm different," the man said, forcing a smile despite the obvious pain he was in.

"Well that's good," Sabrina said. "You really freaked us out, man."

"Time to be freaked out a bit more, you guys," Danny said.

"Why's that?" Sabrina asked.

"Because there's something in the woods," Danny said, sounding obviously disturbed.

"What?" Sabrina exclaimed. She looked in the same direction as her friend and saw two blood-red eyes staring back at her.

_May, 2014; Toronto, Ontario_

Zanna tossed and turned in her sleep as a jumbled mess of imagery and nonsense played over in her mind. She had that dream almost every night. First came the sound of the Doctor's TARDIS materializing. After a few seconds, that sound faded into an eerie hum. It sounded like the type of sound that came from a large electronic device. Then came the sight of that strange globe she saw in the Rani's TARDIS on the day she had first met the Doctor. She then saw a hand grab the globe and stuff it into a duffel bag. She then saw an image of Keegan Stonehouse, her favourite actor, being attacked by stone-creepers, those horrible insects she saw on the planet Argonia. Then everything would disappear and all she would hear would be the hum. It would grow louder and louder until Zanna was sure her ears would bleed from the vibrations that tormented her eardrums.

Zanna opened her eyes and looked around. She was lying in the bedroom of the apartment she shared with her friends, Echo and Luke. She turned and peered at a nearby window. Light shone from a street lamp, illuminating the raindrops clinging to the window. She could hear the pitter-patter of rain falling against the windowpane and a faint clap of thunder from off in the distance. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes. Then she pulled her hands away from her eyes, grimaced, and flicked away the eye dust that was collected on her fingertips. She looked at the small clock on her nightstand. It was eight thirty in the morning. She groaned and slumped back into her bed and closed her eyes. Suddenly, the phone rang. Zanna groaned and rolled over in annoyance, but then sat up when she heard who was calling.

"Hello, Zanna," the voice chirped. "It's Epsilon."

Zanna's head snapped up from her pillow.

"The Doctor's too busy spying on Wesley Creed to talk right now; he thinks there's something strange going on with him. I know what you're thinking, but he's got Cass with him. When did things ever go badly for him when she was around?" Epsilon continued without taking a breath. "But I mean recently, not a long time ago when something _did_ go badly when she was around."

Zanna leapt out of her bed and began sprinting over to her bedroom door, tripping on several articles of clothing and falling over several times.

"Sorry, anyway, I've been going off and making deductions on my own," Epsilon explained. "Cass told me to bring Tavric, because he can be a handful and he will most likely do something to mess up the little stakeout they're doing. He's particularly excited to be here." She laughed. "I remember my first visit to Earth."

Zanna was puzzled. _The only time Epsilon was on earth was when she and the others were dropping me off...or was it? That's the thing with time travel._ She flung the door open and sprinted out into the hallway before slipping on the hardwood floor and falling face-first against a wall.

"So, anyway, the Doctor's spying on Wesley, Cass is with him, and I'm exploring with Tavric," Epsilon said.

Zanna sharply turned the corner and accidentally knocked over a tall lamp. She stopped to see if it was broken.

"Now, anyway, I have to go," Epsilon concluded. "Tavric just snuck into Bernard Hartman's trailer. We saw a new movie being filmed with Keegan Stonehouse in it. Keegan kind of reminds me of the Doctor, so I thought that Tavric and I would investigate."

"What?" Zanna shouted, moving the lamp back into a standing position.

"I have to go. Goodbye," Epsilon said. "Tavric, wait! Don't do that!"

"No!" Zanna shouted, sprinting into the living room and rushing to grab the phone. "Nonononononononononononnonononon-awwwwwwwww!"

It was too late. As Zanna reached the phone, the line went dead. Frustrated, Zanna headed back into her bedroom. She flung a drawer on her bedside table and pulled out a magazine. She looked at an image of Keegan Stonehouse on the cover. She frowned. Keegan Stonehouse did not look like the Doctor. Well...not exactly. Aside from having a similar hairdo, pale skin, green eyes, and that silly, toothy grin, he did not bear any more similarities. _Where did Epsilon get the idea to investigate, _Zanna thought to herself. _He doesn't bear _that _much resemblance._

Meanwhile, Epsilon, along with Keegan Stonehouse, was trying to get Tavric to calm down. They were on the set of Keegan's new film called _Cold Death. _Epsilon found the filming to be very disorganized and slow-paced. Not only that, but the director proved himself to be a very obsessive, finicky, demanding, and obnoxious man. Bernard Hartman was the man's name. Throughout the entire eight hours that Epsilon and Tavric spent at the set, Bernard did nothing but whine, complain, and treat the cast and crew like cattle. In fact, they had previously worked on only one scene for six hours, stopping only when the sun began to rise.

Epsilon did not have much trouble entering the area. She was able to charm her way onto the set, just like she had seen the Doctor charm his way into many other situations. Though, it was hard to say whether or not it was typical of her species; she may have merely picked the skill up from the Doctor.

Suddenly, she felt her whole body go numb. _Perhaps I should find someone doing first aid here,_ she thought. _There must be one around here. I bet several people get hurt working here._ She looked around and realized that she was no longer on the set of a movie at all. In fact, she may not have even been on Earth anymore. She found herself surrounded by clean, white walls and people wearing white uniforms. The people around her had grey skin with silver markings around their eyes. They also had white hair and almond-shaped, purple eyes. _Nope. Definitely not Earth,_ she thought. She sniffed the air. _Zavra,_ she concluded. _That's it. I'm on the planet Zavra. There's a plant in the TARDIS that's from Zavra and it smells just like this. But how did I get here?_

_Meanwhile..._

Cass frowned as she watched Wesley Creed reach between the cushions of his expensive sofa and pull out a small globe that fit in the palm of his hand. "I saw that before," she whispered to the Doctor. "It was on the Rani's TARDIS. He must have nicked it when he left to come back to Earth with us."

"And the whole time he had it in my TARDIS?" the Doctor exclaimed, shuffling his feet on the scaffolding.

"It was probably the reason he wouldn't let go of that duffel bag when Zanna and I were trying to help him back on Argonia," Cass assumed. "I should have noticed he was hiding something."

"And come to think of it, he was behaving very strangely when we were taking him home," the Doctor explained. "He seemed to be closely guarding the duffel bag as if he was hiding something inside of it and he seemed to be in quite a hurry to leave when we finally landed. Now we know what he's been hiding, but what does it do?"

"Doctor, he's seen us," Cass warned. They both instinctively knelt down on the platform when they saw Wesley glaring at them. They then watched as the young man held the globe closer to his body and clasped both his hands around it.

"Of course," the Doctor said. "That's one of the flaws in our plan. Watching through a plate glass window isn't exactly ideal. Isn't that right, Cass?"

No answer.

"Cass?" the Doctor whispered, looking around. Cass had completely disappeared. He looked down to see if she had fallen, but then dismissed the idea since he did not hear her fall from the scaffolding. He then decided to look up, despite knowing that he would still hear a commotion if someone (or _thing_) had reached down and snatched her from up above. He took out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the space where the pilot had been previously kneeling and noticed the abundance of a strange type of energy coming from that exact spot. "Well, well, well," he muttered. "Quite a puzzle this is making itself out to be."

Then as he looked back, he noticed that Wesley himself, as well as the globe, had also disappeared. "_What?"_ the Doctor exclaimed. "Where could he have gone?"

He looked around and then pointed his sonic screwdriver towards the area where Wesley had been standing, only to find the same type of energy where he used to be.

"Alright," the Doctor said to himself. "Now I know he's the one causing this with that shiny, globey, thing. Now, where have they gone?"

He pointed the sonic device at the pulley system holding up the scaffolding and lowered himself onto the ground. Then he swiftly began making his way over to where Epsilon had told him she was going.

_AN: I'M BAAAAAAAAACK! Did ya miss me? It's great to be back. To quote Hoodohoodlumsrevenge, It's been a long time for all of us hasn't it, eh? What I should tell you is that it may be a long time before my next chapter since I've got college, and on top of that I've got a job now, but I'll do my thanks go to Bae Arcell for looking the chapter over. Also, thank you very much for your patience._


End file.
